The Sheriff, the Stranger, and the Outlaw
by LindenMae
Summary: AU. Sokka's the sheriff of Avatar. Zuko's the mysterious stranger in town and possibly the wanted outlaw, the Blue Spirit. Sheriff Sokka can't get his mind off of either of them. Set in the Wild West. ABANDONED. The first chapter reads as a complete story
1. The Blue Spirit

**This got stuck in my head and demanded to be written. I know I'll probably keep going with it so I'm tentatively saying that it's going to be done as a series of drabbles and one-shots, not proper story format. All of the chapters will take place in this universe and for the most part they'll say something about Sokka's relationship with Zuko the mysterious stranger and the Blue Spirit as he tries to prove that they're the same person. We'll see what I do with it. I don't even know. I just thought western Zukka would be fun. **

**I don't own ATLA or anything related to it. **

Sokka was tired and not in a way that could be remedied with a good night's sleep, though he could sorely use one of those as well. He was bone-weary, exhausted, barely making it through the day. All he wanted was to protect Avatar, his tiny frontier-town and preserve the lives of the men and women that lived there, like he'd sworn to do when he'd first donned the five pointed star that hung ever present from his worn and faded blue vest.

He loved his town and he knew it was his responsibility to protect it but things had really started to go downhill since his father left to do his part to stop the government's westward expansion, giving him more than just his little sister to take care of.

He didn't have much of an opinion regarding this war that the government had, not quite openly, declared on the natives. To be honest, he didn't mind them as long as they didn't jeopardize the town, _his_ town. He had a live and let live policy. The natives knew they could trust him and in turn things remained peaceful... for the most part.

He sighed as he stood from his desk, surveying the dusty main road that lay just beyond his open door. Dusk was falling over the land and soon Old Man Iroh's saloon, The Jasmine Dragon, would be filling up and drunken brawls would be sure to follow. If this were all he had to worry about, drunks and gamblers, horse thieves and whores, he didn't think he'd be so tired but the unofficial war over the land was putting pressure on his little town that couldn't be relieved by one solitary lawman.

He was but one straight arrow in a bushel of broken shafts.

Mentally he planned his night, counting the rounds he would have to make before he could finally retire to his little house and the half full bottle of whiskey that was sitting on the table in his non-existent kitchen nook, waiting for him.

"Come on, Sheriff. Let me out. It wasn't me this time, I swear!" The pleading shout resounded behind him as he moved towards the exit, bouncing off of the metal bars that sealed off the cells. Sokka turned, wearily, and regarded the outlaw he'd arrested and detained the night before.

"I know damn well it was you, Jet. It's always you."

The man was long and lanky, all sinew and muscle beneath his dusty gray shirt and patched up black pants. There was a manipulative smile gracing his ruggedly handsome face that accented the constant calculating look in his sparkling black eyes. A mop of brown hair was just visible beneath an old black hat, tipped low in the front and only adding to the dangerous appeal that the young man exuded.

Sokka was not put on by Jet's charisma but he was well aware just how many people in the town were.

"I've been in here a whole day already. Ty Lee'll be missing me."

"Ty Lee'll keep busy." Sokka reassured him confidently. He'd see for himself in just a bit how true he knew his words were. Aunt Wu's girls were never left wanting for clients and he knew all too well that Ty Lee wasn't one to play favorites.

"I'm telling you, Sheriff, me and the freedom fighters are goin' straight. It was that damned Blue Spirit!"

Sokka slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand and grimaced. "Do not call him that. He ain't no goddamned Robin Hood. He's just another pain in my ass bandit like you. 'Sbad enough he's plaguing my town, I ain't having him turn into a legend too."

Jet and his self named "freedom fighters" had been more than a nuisance to Sokka for long enough. Pair them with the day to day problems he had to deal with and that'd be more than enough for any one man. Too bad for Sokka they didn't make up half of his problems.

He had an uneasy alliance with the neighboring natives, the militaristic Kyoshi, but it was fragile and he knew how easily it could crumble under the building pressure from the government's constant westward expansion. The entire thing was only further complicated by the odd sort of relationship he seemed to have with their leader, Suki. To be honest, he wasn't sure what it was and he wasn't all that eager to define it.

He'd kissed her once, thrilled by her strength and independence. When he'd traveled to the bustling port city of Ba Sing Se, a long time ago, he'd been put off by the delicate airs that the women there had put on. They had all been so weak and breathy and prone to fainting spells. Plainly it had annoyed him. He'd grown up on the frontier where women didn't have the luxury of such pansy assed decorum. Frontier women were willful and sturdy and more often than not, they called the shots.

Sokka was not a man who shied away from a woman who could handle herself but he wasn't eager to get too involved with a native warrior. Sokka was nothing if not practical and practicality told him that romance would only strain the already weak relations, not strengthen them, no matter how intriguing and impressive that woman might be.

His open mind regarding the natives didn't exactly extend to his little sister though. Her sudden decision to take up with the last surviving member of the Air Nomads, had near pushed him over the edge. Sokka didn't agree with the way that the government had dealt with the predominantly peaceful tribes but there wasn't anything _he_ could do about it. Feeling sorry for the kid had been his first mistake. Knowing full well that he was wanted, Sokka'd let him stay on in the town, turning a blind eye to the kid's more than obvious presence.

The kid was already becoming a legend across the country and Sokka knew just how much trouble he could get in for harboring him, but his biggest character flaw prevented him from turning the poor kid in or turning him out. He was just too damned nice, sometimes. Not that he wouldn't draw his pistol in a flash to defend himself or his town, but it didn't mean that he _wanted_ to.

When he'd let the kid stay, Aang... Katara kept telling him to use the kid's name and, well, he loved her so he'd promised he'd try. When he'd let _Aang_ stay he hadn't expected his sister to jump on his cause so avidly. He should have though. He'd always known Katara had a bleeding heart. This exhaustion was making him slow and unprepared. He didn't like that.

The kid was nice enough and, he had to admit, a pretty entertaining little fellow but there was a huge black cloud following him around and Sokka didn't want his little sister being shadowed by that black cloud too.

As if all of that weren't enough, the universe had decided to drop this damned Blue Spirit into his lap on top of everything and so far he hadn't managed to pin one thing on the guy, let alone see him. Not that he wasn't completely sure who this masked pain in his ass was, because he may not have had too much of a formal education but he had more than enough natural intelligence to figure it out. His only problem was that he had no way to prove it. He would though, he'd promised himself that much. The idea of having Old Man Iroh's nephew locked away where Jet stood now had sent a pleasurable tingle down his spine and through his nethers on more than one occasion, not that he'd ever admit that to anyone.

"You're really jus goin' to leave me in here all night? I'm telling you it wasn't me. I saw that demon with my own eyes. You gotta believe me."

Sokka narrowed his eyes at the rogue and crossed his arms over his chest. He _wanted_ to let bandit out. Jet was a petty outlaw and the crime he'd committed this time hadn't even been that bad, drunkenly "liberating" a few of the Bei Fong's horses and taking them on a joyride down Main Street. But the Bei Fongs were the wealthiest family in the town, they practically owned Avatar, and he knew it wouldn't do to let any crime against them go unpunished.

He didn't have the guts to tell them just how much trouble their precious, blind daughter caused when they weren't paying attention.

"You're staying in there for another night, Jet. One way or another you're goin' to learn your lesson."

"You're a hard man, Sheriff." Jet spoke with resignation but the mischievous glint in his eyes was still there. Sokka knew he would let him out in the morning and he'd be back in that exact same cell by the following night. The lawman threw back his shoulders and gave the outlaw a look that was supposed to tell him that he wasn't playing games. He turned back towards the door and palmed the crown of his Stetson, flipping it onto his head with one fluid motion. He hooked the cell keys onto his belt and took one step towards the door before he stopped, curiosity getting the better of him.

He didn't want his desire to pin something on the dark, scarred nephew of the amiable saloon owner to be obvious but the stranger wouldn't come near him and so far he hadn't done anything that screamed wanted outlaw. It couldn't hurt to ask around, just a bit.

"Whaddaya know about Old Man Iroh's nephew, Jet?"

Jet looked at him quizzically, trademark smirk still in place but not conveying any meaning. He pulled a wrinkled cigarette out of his pocket and popped it between his lips, looking at Sokka expectantly. The lawman sighed and pulled a box of matches from his own pocket. He strode forward and struck a flame, holding it to the end of the bandit's rolled tobacco until it glowed red.

Jet took a long drag while he assessed the sun kissed sheriff before finally answering the question.

"I'll admit not much. Tried to get him to join the Freedom Fighters when he first showed up in town but he turned me down flat. Seems like a shady character to me though." He nodded as if contemplating his words, "somethins definitely off about him."

"Coming from you, that's not saying much."

Jet only shrugged and deepened his smirk. "I think he's got somethin goin on with Mai..." Sokka felt an inexplicable pang of something like jealousy in his gut but immediately dismissed it. "I don't think it's too serious though. You said it yourself... those girls keep busy."

"I'm not interested in his love life," oh but he _was_, "give me something about his history. I've got no story on this guy, no background."

"Make you uncomfortable to have someone in this town not under your thumb, Sheriff?"

Jet looked smug and it was all Sokka could do to keep his pistol holstered. He wouldn't _shoot_ the outlaw, just point it at him and wave it around a bit, remind him who was in jail and who put him there.

"Ain't no one in this town under my thumb, Jet. I'm just trying to keep this place together and keep people alive, even worthless pieces of shit like you."

The outlaw feigned hurt at the insult but couldn't stop a snicker from escaping his lips. Sokka growled in frustration and snatched the half smoked cigarette from Jet's mouth, throwing it to the ground and crushing it beneath his boot before making his way out of the jail.

"See you tomorrow, Sheriff!"

* * *

He eyed the swinging doors that marked the entrance to the saloon with trepidation. He needed to go in, remind the patrons that he was there. It was a small town with a dutiful Sheriff who may let a lot of things slide but not everything and sometimes it just took his presence to tell them that.

The fact that Old Man Iroh's nephew had begun tending bar when he'd come to town had nothing to do with it, he told himself, not for the first time. He never drank heavily at the saloon, preferring instead to savor the taste of his personal bottle of whiskey alone in his own house when his work was finally done.

The badge had done a number on him. He could see that. There was no denying that he was lonely and those nights when he sat in the lamplight with nothing but his own company and the sweet burn of the liquor as it crawled down his throat, he missed his younger days before he'd taken up the star, when he _could _enjoy a shot or two and swindle more than a few old men at poker.

Barely twenty four and already an old man. The universe had something against him.

He braced himself for the cacophony of sound and action that awaited him. He'd go in, have an ale, flirt with Ty Lee a bit to remind him of the old days and he'd ultimately go home alone, drink himself into a stupor and then lay awake, thinking of the strange man who'd moved into his town, touching himself and wondering.

The old man only barely startled him when he called out a greeting before the doors had even swung shut behind him.

"Sheriff! So good to have you in my humble establishment. Please, have a beer on the house. Zuko!"

Sokka opened his mouth to protest, well to at least pretend to protest because his Gran Gran had ironed the basics of general manners into him and some had even stuck, but Iroh didn't allow him to get even a breath out before he was calling over his shoulder to a pale man with a dark mop of black hair that brushed the crisp collar of his crimson shirt and obscured half of his face. Sokka felt his stomach do a somersault that he promptly ignored when the young man looked up and scowled.

He would have been strikingly handsome were it not for the large scar, a permanent remnant of some unfortunate event in the man's past, that covered his left eye and marred the corresponding ear. Sokka did his best to strut across the sawdust covered floor, rather than trudge awkwardly, towards the bar.

The dark man scowled at him the entire way, exotic yellow eyes were narrowed into thin angry slits that Sokka almost swore could burn him.

"What'll it be?" He forced out when the lawman took a seat, his voice rough with either anger or disuse.

"I uh... ale, dark."

Sokka's job had sobered him from the outgoing, energetic and boisterous youth he had been but he still rarely found himself at a loss for words, this was an exception. The young bartender's obvious anger towards the lawman was unsettling to say the least.

He watched as the stranger... Zuko, he almost preferred _the stranger_, filled a frosted mug with coffee colored beer and slid it in front of him.

"Uncle says it's on the house."

"Thanks."

He thought the man would walk away and tend to the other patrons but as Sokka glanced around he realized it was early yet and the Jasmine Dragon Saloon was nowhere near capacity. His stomach somersaulted again when he looked back and realized that the stranger was still staring at him, hatred boiling in his golden eyes.

"I know what you think about me."

Sokka was startled but he did his best not to show it. He merely shrugged and nonchalantly took a swig of his beer.

"And what's that?"

He watched the young's pale calloused hands swipe a rag around the inside of a clean mug rather than meet his eyes. They were too intense and he knew they were going to haunt his dreams from now on.

"You think I'm dangerous."

"I don't think that necessarily. Don't know anything about you though. This is _my_ town and I can't say I like having a secretive stranger living here."

"I don't want any trouble."

There was a hand that he could play here. It would be a risky move but if he could catch this guy off guard then it might be worth it to lay his cards on the table.

"Glad to hear it, stranger. Kind of unfortunate for you that this Blue Spirit fellow showed up and starting plaguing my town at the same time you arrived."

He waited, refusing to raise his eyes, for Zuko to react. The hand inside of the mug stilled for a moment so brief Sokka would have missed it if he hadn't been staring at it so intently.

"That's a coincidence."

"I'm sure it is." Sokka couldn't prevent a smug smile from twisting up the corners of his mouth as he finally allowed his gaze to rise and meet the stranger's fiery stare. He extended his hand to the man, determined to keep the situation neutral. "I'm Sokka, the sheriff, but I'm sure you knew that."

"Zuko." There was no additional clip of information, just a name and a pale hand in his.

"This Blue Spirit is a real pain in my ass, I gotta admit." He continued, reluctantly allowing his hand to drop. He had one more trick up his sleeve and he could only hope it would draw the scarred man out more.

"Really." It wasn't a question, really more of an uncaring automatic response. Apparently certain manners had been drilled into this guy too and hadn't stuck all that well either.

"No idea who he is though. He's one sneaky bastard." He searched the scarred face for any flicker of emotion, pride, nerves, anything... but the man's face stayed passive and almost bored. If Jet was right and this guy was shacking up with Mai on the side, theirs had to be an insanely boring relationship. This guy simmered like he could explode any second though and Sokka was willing to bet that he wouldn't be the type who could tolerate dating a saloon girl, even if Mai didn't get as many clients as Ty Lee.

Sokka had to admit that her knife throwing act, while impressive, was enough to have a man cowering, hands in front of him, protecting his more important parts.

"Hmm."

Sokka snorted impatiently into his beer. This ploy wasn't working. He may not get him tonight but he'd made a promise to himself to see that beautiful young man in one of his cells... or maybe in his bed. Really either would work.

"I'm beginning to think it might be worth it to offer a reward for information on him. He's wanted in other towns as well."

Still no visible response. Damn, just a shrug. The man didn't even seem interested. Then again, if he _wasn't_ the Blue Spirit he _would_ be interested in the reward. Any normal man would. It was just a bluff though. Unless the Bei Fongs would be willing to back him, he wasn't about to come up with any kind of substantial amount of money.

It was almost a relief when a group of men meandered over to the bar and loudly demanded Zuko's attention. Sokka wasn't getting anywhere and he was beginning to feel like an idiot. This guy was intense and it made the lawman fidget in a way that was completely uncharacteristic.

Despite his recent weariness, when it came to the ladies he was as smooth as ever. He could have Ty Lee swooning within minutes on a bad day and Suki... well Suki was complicated and maybe he wasn't exactly suave around her but it was definitely better than this. The stranger wasn't a lady though, something Sokka had to remind himself of often. Not that the stranger looked or behaved at all feminine, not even close, but the way Sokka felt when he thought about him... well it was usually a woman making him feel that way.

"Ooh Sheriff Sokka!" Speaking of the feminine devils. He glanced over his shoulder to see Ty Lee and Mai descending the stairs that, he knew from experience, led to a hallway of garishly decorated bedrooms.

Ty Lee flounced over to him, a wide smile plastered on her pretty features, layers of rose colored silk complimenting her fair skin.

"I've missed you so much! You never come to see me anymore!" She planted herself in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, her skirt and petticoats hitching up her leg and exposing a good amount of her thigh.

Mai only offered him an uninterested sigh and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms over her crimson corset.

"I am sorry about that Ty Lee. You know I've been busy."

"Oh! Is it the Blue Spirit? He's all anyone can talk about! Song said she caught a glimpse of him the other night and he was just the tastiest thing." She mock swooned and leaned back into Sokka's chest, forcing him to wrap his arms around her to keep her steady.

"She can't possibly know that, Ty Lee. He wears a mask." Mai interjected, apathy dripping from her voice.

"Oh don't be such a pain, Mai." She turned a flirtatious gaze on Sokka, batting her eyelashes and trailing a slender finger across his cheek. "I'm sure he's nothing compared to you though Sheriff. You know I love a man with a badge."

Oh yes. He knew.

It was at that point that Zuko chose to interrupt them. He indicated the empty mug when Sokka looked over and flushed. He wasn't sure how he felt about the mysterious young man seeing him with an armful of loose woman.

"Another?" He asked gruffly. Sokka contemplated it for a brief moment. He wanted to stay in the stranger's company. He wanted to be able to comfortably call him something other than the stranger. He had to admit that he also wouldn't mind the warm company of a naked and willing Ty Lee, also on the house. Sometimes it was good being the Sheriff.

He noticed the dark young man eye the bubbly girl with something akin to disgust and then shoot a contemptuous look at the young sheriff. It went straight to Sokka's groin and he was thankful for the pretty girl squirming in his lap. It wasn't right and it wasn't probable let alone possible but no one could begrudge him his private thoughts in the darkness of his own home.

He kept his mouth shut and shook his head no. He needed to go home and he needed that bottle of whiskey and soon. Zuko pursed his lips and took the mug, casting one last dirty look towards the whore in the sheriff's lap.

Ty Lee protested when Sokka slid her off of his lap, accentuating each whine with a giggle and a flirtatious touch. When he finally got her to let him go, by planting a promising open mouthed kiss on her pale pink lips, he was shaking with a long dormant excitement. He promised that once the Blue Spirit was caught he'd be back more often and he'd pay her more attention but he didn't think that was true. He'd be back but it wouldn't be for Ty Lee.

* * *

He'd sat and stared at his beloved bottle for a good half an hour before bringing himself to pour a shot which he promptly downed. He nearly moaned with pleasure at the burning sensation that coated his throat and inflamed his chest. The numbing effects of the whiskey kept him going, kept him from breaking down at night and from finding solace in the arms of any warm body that would have him.

He waited until his mind was comfortably foggy before sliding into bed, his aching bones sighing in contentment at finally getting to relax. He kept his pistol by the bed, loaded, but it was just a habit. Avatar was a small, friendly town, everyone knew everyone. No one would break into the sheriff's house in the night. That's not how things were done.

Or so he thought.

The whiskey didn't dull his senses entirely but there were no footsteps to be heard. The Blue Spirit moved as silently as a ghost. No one saw the Blue Spirit unless he wanted to be seen and on this night he wanted the sheriff of Avatar to see him.

Sokka felt a gloved hand cover his mouth and he immediately shot up in the bed, only to be forcefully pushed back down. A dark, lithe form slid on top of him and sat across his hips, straddling him. The lawman's ice blue eyes widened at the leering, demonic face that was staring down at him. It was comical and frightening at the same time and he felt a sudden desperate urge to get away.

He'd seen artistic renderings of the masked bandit but they were nothing compared to the real thing. Sokka grabbed the bandit's arms and bucked his hips in an attempt to dislodge the black-clad body but the bandit held him down and met the lawman's accidental thrust with one of his own. A delicious thrill shot through Sokka's groin and up his spine. He moaned unwillingly and arched his back, digging his nails into the skin beneath the black silk.

The Spirit leered at him all the while.

The Blue Spirit took his hand away from the lawman's mouth trusting that he wouldn't protest and leaned forward so that his body was parallel to Sokka's, his knees digging into the bedding on either side of tan hips, obscured by the thin white cotton top sheet. The lawman's erection was obvious despite that and Sokka didn't know, but the grin on the pale face beneath the blue mask could have rivaled the demonic leer.

The Spirit quickly shook Sokka's grip on his arms and while the man was still distracted, gathered the surprisingly slim wrists in one hand which he proceeded to plant firmly above the lawman's head. The other hand disappeared briefly beneath the mask and Sokka watched, mesmerized, as it reappeared slowly and gloveless. He licked his lips as he watched the calloused and nearly translucently pale hand reached between the two bodies and underneath the flimsy top sheet.

Sokka only had split second to register that he recognized that hand before it was wrapped around his shaft and he was panting like a dog. The hand was warm, almost unnaturally so, and surprisingly soft like it's owner hadn't always been a road weary traveler whose last chance was bartending in his uncle's saloon in a tiny frontier town.

But Sokka didn't know that for a fact. He couldn't tell this man's identity just by a hand. A dominating facial scar maybe, but not a hand.

The hand tightened around the base of his shaft and slowly moved upwards, ripping a sudden gasp from the young sheriff's lungs. This was nothing like when he did it to himself, nothing like when he'd drunkenly followed Ty Lee's lace covered ass up the stairs and let her do it to him with her pretty slender fingers.

This was intense, and strong, and wrong on so many levels.

He was the sheriff and he was letting an outlaw that he couldn't catch jack him off in his own home because he thought it might be a pale stranger he knew equally little about. There would be guilt when he slipped on his vest in the morning and polished the brass star that was supposed to represent everything he stood for, but he couldn't bring himself to think of that now. He could only think of the warm hand encircling his cock, stroking it up and down, bringing him to a more intense climax than any he'd had in a while.

He couldn't bite back his moans as a searing warmth began to pool in his belly and his hips began to buck of their own accord. A pale thumb brushed across the engorged tip of his dick, intensifying his pleasure as it smeared a good amount of pre-cum across his slit and down the rest of the shaft.

"Fuck, fuck!" He yelled with abandon as he came. The spirit curved his back and managed to avoid being sprayed with the white viscous liquid as the lawman convulsed. The warm, sticky fluid coated his naked stomach and chest and he reveled in it while he lay there panting, his eyes squeezed tightly closed.

He felt the Spirit's hand still moving, milking the last of his seed. He tentatively opened his eyes and regarded the bandit, suddenly unsure if he was actually awake. The pale hand reached up and stroked the muscled, tanned chest, drawing two fingers through the thick white puddle that had pooled there. He held the fingers up, the lawman's cum glistening in the moonlight that shone in through the window.

Sokka watched with fascination as the fingers disappeared beneath the mask and reappeared long seconds later, sucked clean. He closed his eyes for less than a second, to relish the image he had in his head of Old Man Iroh's nephew doing the same thing, but opened them again suddenly when he felt the pressure across his legs disappear. As quickly as he'd appeared the outlaw was suddenly gone, leaving behind a satisfied and more than slightly bewildered sheriff.

**:) **


	2. Tumbleweeds

**Um so I've officially fallen in love with this little AU that I've created and I'm sorry to say this but it's taking precedence over NSTAS. I WILL finish that story, I promise, but I'm just so stressed out right now and I write SO much for school as it is that I just cannot deal with the angst right now. My own fic is depressing me. **

**Right now I need fun and **_**this**_** is fun. :) **

**This quick draw of an update is for my reviewers and all of those who faved this story after only one chapter. I went out on a limb with this fic and you guys have me convinced it was a worthwhile gamble. **

Tumbleweeds

"The sheriff's been askin about you."

Jet sauntered up behind the black haired young man, spitting charisma like tobacco. Old Man Iroh's nephew, he called him that because everyone called him that, even the sheriff. No one felt comfortable calling him by his actual name, except maybe Mai and Ty Lee and well, they didn't get _paid_ to be shy, and Old Man Iroh himself.

Old Man Iroh's nephew was washing down his horse out back of the saloon and he barely flinched when he heard Jet's voice. The rogue would never have even seen it if the stranger hadn't been shirtless, pale skin glistening with sweat in the noonday sun. Crimson suspenders hung loosely about his black clad hips, hinting at how dangerously easy it would be to see them bare.

Jet was intrigued, had been since the day the dark stranger had ridden into town. Avatar was small and practically off the grid. Jet had approached him right away, something he rarely did, and he'd invited him into his gang after barely more than a handshake, something he _never_ did. There was just something about him.

He was dark and withdrawn and he clearly didn't belong. Wasn't that how the Freedom Fighters had come together in the first place? Because they were outcasts and they _needed_ each other. Jet could tell that this guy was an outcast of some sort himself. That dead skin on his face was no birthmark and even with it, he was too damn _pretty_ to be wandering into a good for nothing town in the middle of nowhere looking to work in his uncle's saloon.

Jet crossed his arms over his chest and twirled the wheat stalk in his mouth with his tongue, waiting for the stranger to reply. The outlaw refused to feel intimidated. He kicked up his heel and placed the sole of his boot against the wall. Keeping his arms crossed he leaned back into the shadows, trademark smirk on his face even though no one could see it.

"Nice horse."

Old Man Iroh's nephew briefly glanced over his shoulder, giving Jet full view of his good profile, before turning back to the stallion. He bent over, pulling a rag out of a tin of soapy water, not even hesitating when he splashed himself. Jet imagined that the water probably felt good in the heat. He became acutely aware of the sweat dripping down his own face and neck and dampening the collar of his shirt even in the shade.

"Hmm."

Zuko's muscles rippled beneath his skin as he wiped the horse's flank with the rag. In the sun the stallion's coat shone the exact same shade of onyx as his master's hair. Jet had to admit that it was a magnificent sight.

"Break him yourself?"

"He's not broken."

Jet raised an eyebrow in surprise. The horse was standing still and without a bridle, allowing the pale young man to douse his back with water, a sudden shake of his head or the ripple of his thick shoulder muscles the only sign that the equine wasn't a statue.

"_That _horse isn't broken?_" _

"No. He's not."

"So if I..."

"It would not be an intelligent thing to do."

Jet's ears pricked up at the formal speech that the stranger used. It was one of the longest sentences he'd heard Old Man Iroh's nephew utter since he'd been in the town and it was _so_ _proper_. He didn't take his eyes off of the horse, because it was a beautiful horse and he was dumbfounded by the man's claim that it wasn't broken, but he came back to himself enough to think.

This guy was hiding something. He didn't talk like any frontier-man. Jet couldn't really remember how it had been when Old Man Iroh came to town, not that it was so long ago, but the old man had gone out of his way to be a part of their little community and in a town like Avatar, that kind of behavior went a long way with those who had been born and raised in the harsh environment of the frontier. Jet thought about it hard and he guessed that Iroh's speech patterns were maybe even more proper than his nephew's, but until now he'd never noticed.

He smiled darkly. It really paid not to be a stranger.

"Guess I'll stay away from him then."

"That would be wise."

Jet pushed himself off the wall and took a few confident steps toward the glistening stranger.

"Doesn't bother you in the least that the sheriff's interested in you?"

The pale young man glowered over his shoulder, his eyes sparking with impatience.

"I don't have anything to hide."

"You won't. Secrets don't stay secret for long in this town."

Jet smiled to himself when he saw the pale stranger's mouth set into a grim line. He was getting to him.

"Is that supposed to be a threat?"

The rogue raised his arms, displaying his palms to the young man in a show of peace.

"No threat. Jus' a friendly warning."

"Friendly? You're an outlaw."

Jet let a true smile break out across his handsome features at this.

"And what are you?"

"I'm no one." The stranger spat, his careful mask cracking.

"Oh you're _someone_," Jet said darkly, "and the sheriff wants to know who... but I'm going to find out first."

The rogue laughed when the paler man glowered at him, his golden eyes alight with repressed anger.

"My offer's still good. My gang could use someone like you."

"You don't want me in your gang."

"I think that's up for me to decide."

The stranger refused to look at him, instead focusing on rinsing the soap from the stallion's coat. When Jet was sure he wasn't going to get a response he moved on, jumping to his new favorite scapegoat. He was oblivious to the sheriff's theory that the stranger and the Blue Spirit were one in the same, he just admired the Blue Spirit's work ethic.

"You ain't from here... know anything about the Blue Spirit?"

"No."

"Too bad. Whoever he is we could sure use him. Heard he held up an entire caravan of those rich, East Coast bastards with just a knife and didn't hafta injure a one of 'em."

Jet didn't notice how Old Man Iroh's nephew stiffened.

"I wouldn't know."

"Don't know why he's suddenly pulling shit around Avatar though. Seems like a waste of his skills."

"Maybe there's something here that he wants."

The stranger used the heel of his hand to scrape the excess water from his horse's coat and pulled a palmful of oats from a nearby bucket, holding it up to the graceful beast's snout with a steady hand. Once the horse had licked the pale hand clean, he draped a thick woven blanket over the stallion's back and began walking towards a small, makeshift stable that Jet knew hadn't been there before, the horse followed him without so much as a command.

Jet _was_ a horse thief, among other things, and he couldn't help but inspect the shoddy stable from a distance, calculating just how easy it would be to silently get the stallion out. He knew a healthy breeder like that could make him a lot of money but, the small voice in the back of his head nagged, if he stole the stranger's horse he could rest assured the man would never join the Freedom Fighters. It didn't help at all when the stranger didn't bother to even attempt to lock the beauty up.

Jet was impressed. The stranger sent him one last glowering look before climbing onto the wooden barrier and using his own brute strength and grace to hoist himself up onto the second floor landing that led to Iroh's personal quarters above the saloon.

Jet's smirk returned. He was a pro at breaking horses... he couldn't help but imagine how much fun breaking a person would be.

* * *

**I know it's short but I was just so happy that people seem to like this that I wanted to post again right away. I've always thought Zuko needed a pet and I totally think he would be the kind of person to have a horse that only responds to him. Horses are a lot like dogs in their ability to bond with humans and respond to their emotions and they're amazing therapy animals, something Zuko totally needs. I ride western and I learned bareback which involves A LOT of trust between the animal and the rider so I'm an avid believer in the bonds between horses and people. If that's not enough t****hink Silver or Tornado, they totally only responded to the Lone Ranger and Zorro. **

**Sokka's gonna have a mule named Sassy. Mules are generally bigger than riding horses so it totally makes up for it. ;)**


	3. Guilty Pleasures

**Another short one but the next one should be as long if not longer than the first one and will involve a fireworks filled confrontation between Zuko and Sokka... finally. **

**Warnings: this is rated NC-17 for solo and voyuerism.**

**I do not own ATLA or anything related to it.**

It had been three days. Three days since he'd been visited by the Blue Spirit. Three days since he'd convinced himself that it had been a dream, a combination of the whiskey and his convictions regarding the Blue Spirit's identity. His brain had played with him, teased him, and only managed to leave him more exhausted than he already was.

Sokka couldn't blame himself for a dream. He had no control over his subconscious and who it chose to invite into his bed.

The young sheriff ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair and sighed, wearily, as he drained the remains of the fiery amber liquid from his glass. It was his nightly ritual, sitting alone in his tiny front room that also served as a kitchen, watching the lamplight play across the walls as he drank himself to sleep. Then he'd retire to the small back room that was also his bedroom and lay down, alone in his bed, for another fitful night's sleep that, he was sure, wouldn't be so bad if there were someone beside him.

Katara kept hinting that he should find a woman and settle down and as much as he wanted to ignore her, he knew she was right. There were plenty of nice enough and pretty enough girls around. Girls that would make good wives and would keep his bed warm at night. But a warm body wasn't all that the young lawman wanted. Sokka knew he was being ridiculous, hoping for some great romance to find him, but he couldn't help but want the type of love that had existed between his parents before his mother had died, or the blossom of it that he could see budding between his sister and the Air Nomad, despite how little he may have liked it.

He comforted himself with the knowledge that he wouldn't make much of a husband anyway. He was already married to the town and she was a demanding wife.

Sokka avoided thinking about the fact that he probably didn't want a _wife_ at all but he couldn't ignore the flash of golden eyes that invaded his mind every time he closed his eyes.

Sokka pushed his chair away from the small table and began undressing as he made his way to the bedroom. He pushed aside the curtain that separated the two rooms and dropped his vest on the floor, a guilty pang nudging at his gut when the brass badge clattered against the floor.

It was a dream, he told himself, nothing to feel guilty about.

Calloused fingers moved deftly about the buttons of his pale blue shirt, freeing them from the holes so that he could slip the worn fabric from his shoulders. The cool night air from the open window embraced his naked skin and tantalized his nerves. He brushed a blistered palm across his own chest and imagined it belonged to someone else.

In his mind the hand was softer, the blisters fresh and all the more maddening because they had no place on such refined skin. Golden eyes watched him from behind his tightly shut eyelids as pale fingers made their way to his belt, unfastening the buckle with graceful ease and made quick work of the trail of buttons fastening his fly.

Sokka groaned with relief as he hooked his fingers in his own waistband and slid the fabric past his hips, releasing himself into the night air. A breeze picked up, blowing the tattered curtains away from the window and dancing across his sweat slickened skin, exciting him all the more. He braced himself with one hand against the wall, chin tucked against his chest, teeth clenched and eyes shut tight as he wrapped his fingers around the base of his erection. His breath hitched with the first slow stroke.

"Fuck."

He remembered how it felt, in his dream that was not a dream, when the soft, pale hand had surrounded him and moved, skin to skin. He felt that hand, all over again but it didn't belong to the Blue Spirit. He tightened his grip and increased the pace of his stroking, his breath coming quickly and heavily as he pictured the scarred stranger pressed up against his back and reaching around his waist to minister to his arousal.

He could almost feel the man's hot breath on his bare shoulder, the pressure of the stranger's own throbbing erection against his ass. Sokka thrust wildly into his own hand, his breathing erratic and his rhythm off. His arm buckled and he slumped against the wall, resting his forearm and the crown of his head against the wood as he stroked himself into exhaustion.

The moans slipped from between his lips and were carried out the window on the breeze before he even heard them himself. He didn't care if anyone heard him. These were the moments when he allowed himself to let go.

When the warmth in the pit of his belly became too much for him to ignore, Sokka held his breath, focusing only on the images in his mind and the false sensations he so fervently wished were real.

He knew who the Blue Spirit was and he knew exactly who had been in his room that night, he _knew. _It was all too easy for him to recall every inch of how those hands had felt on his body, gloved or ungloved. Old Man Iroh's nephew had been the one straddling him that night and not only in the sheriff's mind.

His breath exploded from his body in one frantic gush, carrying with it the whisper of a word as he came violently.

"Zuko…"

Sokka stayed where he was for what seemed like an eternity, panting and too weak to move, before he finally stepped out of his boots and pants and used his discarded shirt to clean himself off.

From a tree branch outside of the open window the sight of the naked sheriff glistening with sweat in the moonlight, a look of broken despair pulling at his usually handsome features, was a truly beautiful one to behold. There was barely a hint of an extra shadow among the rustling leaves and Sokka shouldn't have noticed anything amiss as he crawled into his bed but the young sheriff still stared at the tree for an extra second, eyes searching for something he knew wasn't there.

It was only after the lawman had rolled away from the window and closed his eyes that the shadow moved. In the early hours of the morning the Blue Spirit stole away from the perch he had claimed, for at least a few hours night after night, and snuck across the rooftops of the town delaying his true mission for yet another day.


	4. The Summer Solstice pt 1

**I don't own ATLA. I will credit this people when I start using their suggestions but I wanted to thank them for their help right now. Sooo thank you Blitzdrake and Kari Twighlight Mist for your awesome suggestions and help. :) I may have lied a little about the fireworks but they'll be in the next chapter I swear.**

The Summer Solstice

When the fifth person ran past his door with their arms full and their steps harried, Sokka started getting suspicious. He leaned back in his chair and propped his legs up on his desk, crossing them at the ankle. His Stetson was tilted low over his eyes and to anyone who chanced a glance at him he looked like he was taking a nap in the warm afternoon air, but Sokka was keenly aware and not happy.

The cells were empty and the jail was uniquely silent, something Sokka was trying to relish, but the odd peace that had settled over the town only made him uncomfortable and antsy. There hadn't been any news of the Blue Spirit in days and people were beginning to whisper that the bandit had left town. Sokka knew better. The Blue Spirit was still out there, somewhere, thinking up ways to further torment him. Well… maybe not him specifically. He felt a pool of warmth grow in his loins as the memory of the bandit's warm hand encircling him pushed to the front of his mind and he began gnawing on his bottom lip. Then again, maybe so.

He was startled out of his reverie by the loud clanking of something heavy being pushed across the wooden slats of the boardwalk outside his door. When the old, shoddy piano that usually spent its time gathering dust in the corner of Iroh's saloon went rolling past, he sat up in shock, the clang of his spurs hitting the floor echoing across the empty building.

"What the hell?" He ran to the exit and threw open the swinging door, cringing slightly when it met with something solid only halfway open and bounced back towards him.

"Augh!"

When the door swung back, Sokka found himself face to face with Old Man Iroh's nephew who was clutching the back of his head with one hand and glaring at him rather fiercely. It took the young sheriff a moment to calm his fluttering stomach before he was able to force his mouth to form comprehensive words.

"Wh…what are you doin with that?" He gestured towards the piano that the young man had been pushing.

"You hit me in the head with a door and _that_ is your first remark? Is there anyone with _any_ couth in this forsaken town?"

"Oh… uh… pardon? The piano surprised me is all."

The pale young man dropped his hand and sighed and Sokka thought he noticed the hard look in his eyes soften a bit.

"This entire place is filled with idiots." He mumbled as he turned back to the piano.

"Are you goin to tell me where yer takin that?"

"To the square"

"The square? What for?"

"I am simply doing as I've been told. I failed to assume I'd be assaulted and subsequently interrogated when I accepted the task."

Sokka raised an eyebrow at the man's back.

"Right… And who, exactly, gave you this task?"

"I believe it was your sister."

"My _sister_?"

Zuko turned and faced Sokka with an exasperated expression.

"Yes… Katara? Yay high, extremely demanding, looks a rather lot like you but, admittedly, much more comely. I believe she's also the closest thing to a physician this worthless town has."

Sokka gaped at the young man for an awkward moment before the entire statement registered.

"Now wait just a minute! I'm comely! I think."

Zuko smirked and ran his gaze across the entire length of Sokka's denim clad body.

"Of course you are."

He turned back to his cumbersome load. Sokka couldn't move right away, inexplicably frozen in place by the lava hot feeling that Zuko's eyes had fired up in his gut.

He was about to go after the other man, offer to help him with the piano or whatever other chores Katara had piled on him, really anything to be close to that heat, but his sister seemed to have other things in mind.

"Sokka! I've been looking for you all over!"

He turned around slowly, his eyes unwilling to leave the stranger's backside, which was conveniently thrust out under the weight of the piano. There was a dazed expression commanding his face when he finally took in the sight of his little sister rushing towards him, arms filled with paper lanterns and string.

"Sokka! Did you hear me? Where have you been?"

"Here." He gestured towards the jail entrance as if she had just asked him the dumbest question ever. She shot him a look that told him she didn't appreciate his tone.

"Really Sokka, you don't have anyone locked up in there today do you?"

"No…"

"Perfect! You can help set up then!" She dropped her cargo into his arms.

He glanced at his sudden armload and his foul mood returned suddenly. What the hell was going on and why didn't he know about it?

"What, exactly, am I helping set up for, Katara?"

She ignored his sour tone and beamed with excitement.

"It's the Summer Solstice."

"And you're throwing a party for it?"

"Yes!"

Sokka would have slipped off his hat and scratched his head in confusion if his arms had been free.

"Why?"

The annoyed look that Katara gave him was eerily reminiscent of Zuko's earlier expression, although he was fairly sure that this time he didn't deserve it. She shook her head at him and hitched up her skirts, walking with hurried steps in the direction of the square. Sokka readjusted his load and begrudgingly followed.

"I think it's something that _should_ be celebrated and, anyway, since when do _you_ need an excuse for a party?"

"Since I became sheriff and made it my job to know everything that goes on around here. You can't just up and decide to throw a party without telling _me_!"

Katara looked back at him with a condescending smile, tossing her long mahogany braid over her shoulder. "You're whining, brother dear."

"Am not!"

Before they'd reached the square she stopped and faced him, a pleading look across her pretty features.

"Please Sokka. We need this. The whole town does. You're an amazing and dedicated sheriff but things have been harder since Dad left, you have to admit that. The strain is obvious… even on you. I know how much you've been drinking…"

"Katara…" He warned. He wasn't about to let her start nagging him about the one thing that kept him semi sane.

"I know, I know but, Sokka, things have been hard on the entire town. I just thought… I thought it would be nice to give everyone a break, just a small one, and the Solstice is really important to Aang. I know a town gathering won't be anything like the ceremonies that he's used to but… I wanted to try at least. He's been talking about it a lot. You know… the massacre? I just wanted to do something for him, for everyone."

He felt his resolve rapidly crumbling. She just looked so damn hopeful. He offered her the closest thing to a smile that he'd managed in months.

"Okay, okay." She beamed at him and he felt some of her excitement bleed into him. "You know, Zuko called you comely."

She laughed and turned away again, this time waiting for him to walk alongside her.

"You had a conversation with him? I didn't think he talked to anyone but Old Man Iroh."

"Actually, it wasn't much of a conversation. I accidentally hit him with a door and he tried to use all his fancy words to confuse me. Didn't work though."

"Oh, of course not! My brother's a genius, doesn't he know that?"

He felt himself grinning genuinely when she clasped her hands around his elbow.

"Parently not."

She looked contemplative for a second and then smirked at him.

"He _is_ rather handsome isn't he?"

Yes, Sokka supposed handsome could cover it and as far as he was concerned, _claimed_ fit rather nicely also, but then again, the young sheriff was the only one who knew that.

"Don't you even think about it, Katara. He also said you were demanding, _extremely_ demanding." That wiped the smug smirk off her face.

"Well I was only teasing, he's really not _that_ handsome." She muttered, glancing across the square at their subject. Sokka couldn't help but sneak a look himself. He had managed to maneuver the heavy object to the far end of the square and was currently helping his uncle carry dark brown barrels of beer to a small, raised platform. In fact it seemed as if the entire town was doing their part to set up for this party that Sokka hadn't known anything about until just this moment.

Katara always _was _quite the motivational speaker.

She broke away from him with a spin and immediately set about ordering him around. "Alright Sokka, you get to work stringing those along the edges of the square and I'll be right back with the candles. Hmm, it will probably go a lot faster if you have some help…" Sokka opened his mouth to interrupt her and tell her that he didn't need any but then he saw the direction her eyes were taking. She was probably only doing it out of vengeance for being called demanding but Sokka couldn't bring himself to mind. "Zuko! Zuko! Come help my brother string up these lights."

Zuko had, at just that moment, sat down to rest and was mopping his brow with a handkerchief. The look he gave her suggested she had three heads but he pushed himself up anyway and began walking towards them. Katara skirted away before the barkeep reached them leaving Sokka on the receiving end of Zuko's trademark glare.

"You know you don't have to do everythin she tells you to. Katara's bark is worse than her bite." Sokka spoke up, turning to the nearest post and handing Zuko an armful of the lanterns so that he could work with the string.

He saw the pale stranger shrug from the corner of his eye.

"I find people ask fewer questions if I just do what they want."

The statement caused a queer feeling to come over the young sheriff. The night that the Blue Spirit had come to him flashed through his head. When he realized that Zuko was staring at him, he mentally shook himself and returned his focus to the task at hand.

"I guess that's one way to live yer life. Alright, see those hooks I've hammered into all these posts? I'm goin to loop the string through each one and then you hang a lantern across the slack section of string. Got it?"

Zuko nodded and looked at him quizzically. "You've done this before?" The lanterns looked completely foreign to him and he considered himself well traveled.

"Done it before? I set the entire thing up."

"Where did you get these?"

"Made 'em."

"What?"

Sokka looked down from the hook he was currently threading. "What? You think just because I didn't grow up on the East Coast and I didn't get some fancy ass education that I ain't smart as you?"

He was smirking, not really all that insulted, enjoying the struggle of emotions playing out on the pale, scarred face. The man looked as if he couldn't decide between admiring Sokka's work and being perturbed by Sokka's assumption that he was from the East Coast, an assumption that had been right if his face was any guess.

Finally the man just shrugged and began closely examining one of the lanterns. "I'm impressed."

"And I thank you."

Zuko hooked a lantern on the string.

"How did you make these? I've never see anything like them."

"I got the idea from a book my dad sent me from that country that we just opened trade with…"

"How do you know about that?"

"Travelers do come through here every once in a while and my dad is in Ba Sing Se. I know this is a _forsaken town_ but most of us do know how to read and write."

"I apologize." Zuko ground out, not sounding all that sorry.

A fourth lantern went up.

"Hmph. Anyway, my dad sent me the book. One of the first people to go over there wrote it and they included all of these sketches and descriptions of the culture and the buildings and stuff like that. Katara thought these'd look _pretty_ strung up around the square, so I made them."

"You just made them? Just like that?"

"Well they took a few tries and there was no description besides them bein made of paper but there were pictures and eventually I figured it out."

As Zuko hung the sixth lantern he looked at Sokka with a small amount of actual admiration.

"How do you keep them from burning?"

"The paper's coated with a thin layer of tallow. It melts eventually but for the most part it protects the paper from the flame for long enough."

"Impressive."

"Wow, impressed you twice with one story. And I thought you hated everything about this town."

Sokka was immediately grateful for the week long coating of stubble across his cheeks and jaw line to hide his blush when Zuko looked at him briefly and responded in a whisper.

"Not _everything._"

By the time the sun was setting, they'd managed to turn the square into a twinkling hive of excitement and Sokka actually felt eager for the festivities. Katara had been right, not about his drinking because that was _not_ a problem, but about how much everyone needed something like this. He hadn't minded spending the entire afternoon next to the secretive barkeep either.

* * *

Sokka took one last look at himself in the dingy little mirror Katara had insisted he put up in his house. For her sake, and no other reason he told himself, he'd made an effort to look nice. He was still wearing his faded blue vest with the ever-present badge, but underneath he'd managed a clean navy shirt and he'd tied a crisp white bandana around his neck.

His chin length hair, the same shade of mahogany as his sister's, was pulled into a tight ponytail beneath his Stetson, obsessively kept the same shade of white it had been the day he'd gotten it. He hadn't made it to the barber so the distinct five o'clock shadow darkening his jaw line remained, and he didn't really mind it. Katara probably would but Sokka was a master at manipulating her. He'd just tell her how pretty _she_ looked and she'd forget all about him. He hoped.

He pocketed his father's harmonica, left with him when his dad went to Ba Sing Se, and walked out the door. Sokka didn't realize that he was humming as he walked until his father's house came into view. He glanced around quickly and noticed a healthy white rosebush outside of the grocer. He smiled to himself and loped over to the building. Pulling out his pocketknife he snipped the two fullest blossoms from the bush, careful of the thorns, and turned away. The grocer was oddly attached to his cabbage and since Sokka had left those alone, he didn't think the man would mind the missing roses.

The door swung open before he was able to knock and he found himself looking into a sparkling pair of blue eyes that were only shades darker than his own.

"Wow." He breathed. He immediately had to admit that he would not have to falsify his compliments of his sister. Her dress was a stunning shade of royal blue with accents of white lace. It was off the shoulder but lace covered her bare shoulders and bosom and clasped high on her neck, something, as an overprotective older brother, Sokka was eternally grateful for.

Her hair was pinned back in a series of intricate twists by two blue velvet ribbons and a section hung down her back in rippling mahogany curls.

"Katara you look… "

Katara blushed and smiled. "Why Sokka, you're speechless, I can't believe it."

He laughed and handed her one of the roses which she took with a gloved hand and tucked into her hair. She backed away from the door and allowed him into the foyer where he noticed a familiar brown bottle sitting patiently on a side table.

"That for me?" He gestured towards it. Katara noticed and sighed.

"Yes, from Dad."

Sokka ignored the disapproval on her face and pulled his flask from the inside pocket of his vest. This _would_ be a good night.

"So where's the barbarian boyfriend?" He asked as he poured the amber liquid into the tin. There was a joking lilt to his voice but he could already see the scandalized look on his sister's face without even turning around.

"Sokka! Don't talk like that! If anyone's the barbarians it's us, coming in, taking their land, killing…"

"Hey, hey. Calm down. I was kidding around. The kid's okay by me."

"You have a twisted sense of humor."

"Aw, don't let it ruin your night. You said it yourself, the stress is getting to me." He took a swig and smiled at the familiar and comforting burn in his throat.

She pursed her lips but quit her tirade. She loved her brother just as much as he loved her, even if he was a complete idiot.

"Aang! Song! Sokka's here, we can go now!"

Sokka had moved out of his father's house before the man left the town and although Katara had practically begged him, he'd refused to move back in, especially after he'd been elected sheriff. He'd needed his independence but he worried about Katara alone in such a big house, so he'd encouraged her to take boarders. Song had been an obvious first choice, being Katara's assistant nurse, but Aang had not been.

He could understand that Aang needed a place to stay but Sokka didn't see why it had to be with his sister, especially after he started showing amorous intentions towards her. If it hadn't been completely obvious how naïve and sweet the kid was, Sokka would have had a real problem with it.

Sokka took another long swig from his flask as he watched the two renters; well Aang didn't actually _pay _so technically that made him more of a free-loader, something he would never dare say to his sister; float down the stairs.

He grinned and held up the second rose for Song who smiled serenely and tucked it away. Aang grinned jovially and stretched out his hand for Sokka to shake. He'd been attempting to blend in since he'd taken refuge in Avatar but on this night he had returned to his daffodil yellow pants and the peach cloth that wrapped around his waist and draped over one shoulder. His head was freshly shaven, exposing the blue tattooed arrow on his head.

He looked pretty magnificent, Sokka had to admit. He only grimaced a little when Katara wrapped her arms around one of his, and held out his own arm for Song to lightly press a hand upon. With his other hand he raised the flask to his mouth.

* * *

When they arrived at the square half the town was already there, drinking and socializing, someone had picked up a fiddle and a few were already dancing. The regular lampposts had already been lit but, as Sokka glanced around and noticed, Zuko was perched atop a step ladder still lighting his paper lanterns. He thought that the flutter in his loins at the sight was particularly ridiculous but it was there nonetheless. He liked the vision of the pale stranger reflecting the firelight and taking such care with something that _he_ had made. It was nice.

He smiled and it didn't falter when Zuko stepped off the ladder to move it and caught sight of him, actually smiling in return.

* * *

Sokka stayed near the edges of the gathering, not necessarily keeping to himself but not completely willing to immerse himself into the fun. He tried to keep his attention off of Zuko and on his booze or any one of the folk that were continuously coming up to him, making small talk, but as the alcohol flowed it became harder and harder not to bristle when Mai draped her pale arms across Zuko's shoulders, not to want something more than his own hand in the middle of the night. His skin was starting to itch with agitation when Ty Lee finally found him.

"There's my hero. Dance with me?"

"Ty Lee I…"

"Puhleease? How am I supposed to enjoy the night without a single dance from my best man?"

"It seems Jet is free."

The gravelly voice startled both of them and reinforced the pout on the saloon girl's face. She met the golden glower for a brief moment and then smiled and danced away, ever uncaring when it came to the serious matter of things.

Sokka composed himself and passed the flask over, keeping his eyes on the twirling couples. He was admiring the mixture of colors and the coming together of couples. There were a few that he could see that had been fixtures of his childhood and some that were just blossoming. He couldn't help but sigh.

Zuko caught it but wasn't exactly comfortable with asking the sheriff about his feelings, so he chose a different path of approach.

"Now that I see her like this, I've realized that your sister really is quite beautiful."

That shocked the young lawman. He looked to the side sharply, eyes narrowed, and took in the stranger beside him. Zuko wasn't looking at him but Sokka could see the smirk on the young man's lips.

"Huh. You wouldn't be able to get near her, she's practically engaged."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't lower myself to the level of a frontier woman."

Sokka snorted and took another swig out of the recently returned flask.

"You wouldn't be able to handle a frontier woman. Life out here, it's about survival, frontier women are tough. Any one of these girls could whoop yer ass from here to next Sunday."

"Really? What about the blind one, over there? She looks as if she's never set foot outside of her house. How has _she_ survived out here?

Sokka let out a genuine laugh and clapped the other man on the back.

"Toph? Partner, you have no idea. Her parents think she's a sweet, helpless little blind girl that needs sheltering but they're clueless."

He wrapped his arm around Zuko's shoulders and pointed with the flask to where the young woman was sitting with her parents. Her dress was finer than anything anyone else in the town could ever hope to own and her parents were constantly hovering around her, unwilling to let her even move without their guidance. She definitely seemed like she didn't belong in Avatar but looks weren't everything.

"See that lovesick fool that's been hovering around her family the entire night? Can't get close without her father shootin him the evil eye."

"I've noticed. That's Haru, correct? He plays the piano sometimes in Uncle's saloon. I've been told that he's a skilled roper."

"That's what you've been told, doesn't make it true. See, Haru'd do anything for Toph and she knows it so every time there's a rodeo within a night's traveling distance, he sneaks her out and takes her and _she_ competes."

Zuko finally turned his head to look at the sheriff in disbelief.

"What?"

Sokka grinned.

"She dresses up like a boy and calls herself The Blind Bandit and she _wins. _I don't know how she does it, somethin to do with trustin the horse and feelin the vibrations, but she always wins."

The look on Zuko's face was absolutely priceless.

"No…"

"Heard of The Blind Bandit then, have you?"

"I… she… The Blind Bandit _beat_ me! A_ girl, _a _blind girl_ beat me."

Sokka smiled, Zuko wasn't doing it on purpose but he was opening up to someone, slowly but surely. Sokka could file one more thing away in his _mysterious stranger I'd desperately like to bed _file.

"You compete?"

Still in shock, Zuko answered without thinking.

"I traveled for three years before I came here. It was a way to make money."

"And you're good?"

Zuko glowered. "Well, obviously not the best."

The young sheriff hugged the other man's shoulders and continued grinning like an idiot. He'd had a lot more whiskey that night than he normally did and there'd been beer in there too and Sokka was feeling more than a comforting haze. The sheriff was drunk and suddenly acutely aware that he was intimately close to the man he'd been lusting after for a good long while. He was clear enough not to do anything about it right there and then, in front of the whole town, but boy did he want to. It didn't help at all when Zuko turned his golden gaze on the sheriff's face. His eyes widened and Sokka could almost swear that he could see the same lust reflected back at him. His heart began beating uncomfortably fast and the moment seemed to last unbearably long.

"Nephew!"

Zuko broke away violently, eyes widened in horror and Sokka dropped his arm, mentally kicking himself. What the hell had _that _been?

"Nephew! I have told everyone of your skill on the piano and they are all demanding that you play!" Iroh quickly waddled up to the two men, clapping his hands in excitement.

Zuko's face was red and his hands were clenched in shaking fists at his side. He kept his teeth clenched as he answered.

"Uncle," he ground out, "I am a classical pianist. _Classical._ No one here will want to hear that."

"Now Zuko, you are trained in the classics, yes, but you have true skill. All you need is some sheet music. I am sure we can find you some."

Zuko kept his head lowered but his eyes shot to Sokka with a pleading look that begged for rescue. Too bad Sokka didn't feel like being anyone's white knight at that moment.

"I don't know where we could rustle up any sheet music for ya but I can start you off with a tune and if you're _that_ good then I'm sure you can follow it." He smirked evilly. Zuko gaped at him as he was dragged away by his uncle's hand on his wrist.

_You can keep trying to be a stranger but I'll keep pushing. I know who you are but, right now, I don't care._

He followed behind them, making use of the path that Iroh was cutting through the crowd, and pulled his trusty harmonica from his pocket. Iroh forcefully shoved his nephew onto the piano bench and kept his hands on the young man's shoulder so that there would be no attempt at escape.

"Oh Sokka! Are you going to sing?" A pretty girl with black hair and a green dress rushed up to him followed by Song and a few of the smaller children that Sokka thought probably should have been put to bed already.

"Well, no Jin, I was actually just goin to help Zuko here try to play the piano. He's nervous."

"I am not nervous…"

"Zuko?" She glanced at the dark haired boy at the piano and blushed, "Oh. I… your name's Zuko. I never knew."

Sokka fought the urge to growl when Song began batting her eyelashes and tiptoed around the bulky instrument. Thankfully his sister saved him from doing something stupid, as usual.

"But Sokka you _should_ sing. It's been so long and your songs are always so romantic." She glanced shyly at Aang who was staring hard at the floor and turning a brighter shade of red than Sokka had ever seen. The urge to growl was coming back.

"You can't expect me to play something that you _wrote_!" Zuko hissed, already clearly uncomfortable with the female attention he was receiving.

"You play things that old, dead guys wrote." He retorted, looking over his shoulder.

"Mozart, Beethoven! Masters! _You_ are _not_ a _master!"_

"Suck it up, stranger, this ain't no symphony hall either. I think I _will_ sing then, one of my own."

Zuko groaned and reach out to rip the flask from Sokka's grasp. He upended it and drank deeply before he was ready to place his fingers on the keys and attempt to play. Neither Iroh nor Katara let the movement pass by them. It was oddly comfortable for two supposed strangers who were so utterly different and yet more alike than they could hope to know. Both the young girl and the old man truly hoped that their loved ones could possibly be forging a friendship, something that both of them needed.

Sokka slid a sly smile to Zuko and held his harmonica up to his mouth. "Are you ready, _Mozart_?"

Zuko set his jaw and splayed his fingers across the ivory keys.

The entire gathering suddenly became silent and turned their attention to the two young men and the three girls. Sokka nodded at Teo, who clutched his flute and rolled towards the group in his wheelchair, and Haru, who reluctantly tore himself away Toph's side, actually the spot he'd managed about ten feet from Toph's side, and picked up a fiddle. Sokka wasn't worried about them being able to keep up but he signaled for them to wait until Zuko had found his stride before they joined in.

He began tapping his foot to a rhythm and blew into the metal instrument, cupping the end opposite his mouth with his hand and intermittently lifting it to create an uplifting melody. He challenged Zuko with his eyes and delighted in the unsure look that he received, but then Zuko's stare hardened with determination and he set about tapping away with his fingertips. He only had Sokka's harmonica to go on but he managed to fall away from his formal training after a few minutes of playing and he began to flow with the music.

Suddenly Teo and Haru saw their cue to join in and their audience began falling away to laugh and dance. Sokka pulled the harmonica away from his mouth and hoped his voice wouldn't crack. It had been years since he'd sung anything.

"_I've seen the sun rise and set on this land of mine, I've seen the moon believe and forget the terrible trials of time…"_

His voice rang out in a surprisingly clear alto and he smiled into his harmonica.

"_I've seen these things as my days have passed but one thing ever stays…_

_So many things will leave my mind but never your pretty face…_

_When the wind howls and the wolves whine and this desert land grows cold…_

_Believe in my everlasting love and this humble heart you hold…"_

He brought the harmonica up to his mouth again and put his heart into his breath. He didn't see how Zuko glanced at him before he, too, put his passion into the music with his hands. He played a remarkably uplifting variation of the base tune that he'd mastered and Sokka did notice Jin and Song scoot ever closer to him while Mai actually smiled off to the side.

After a few minutes of pure instrumental Katara's ringing soprano broke through and continued the song in harmony with her brother.

"_I've seen the flowers grow and die, in this land of mine, I've seen the way the land has changed with the shifting sands of time…_

_I'll grow old and time will pass but one thing shall never change…_

_The only thing I'll ever need is your pretty face…_

_When the wind howls and the wolves whine and this desert land grows cold…_

_Believe in my everlasting love and this humble heart you hold…"_

The song finished to resounding applause and laughter and Sokka's heart felt lighter than it had in years. He grinned down at his pianist as he snatched his flask back and swigged it.

"Not too bad, _Mozart._"

Zuko smiled at him, a true, happy smile and Sokka's light heart skipped a beat. He looked around at the people who lived in his little town, at their smiling faces, and he smiled back, a huge face consuming smile like he hadn't done since his father had left. He felt his hand rest on Zuko's shoulder, almost of its own accord, but he didn't move it and Zuko didn't shake it off.

**To be continued…**


	5. The Summer Solstice pt 2

**I was halfway through proofreading this and my computer decided to shut down and install updates without asking me if I _wanted _it to. So I have to start over again. Anyway confrontation and fireworks as promised. Any mistakes or instances of lameness within this chapter should be completely blamed on my stupid computer.**

**I don't own ATLA**

The night wore on until the revelers dropped one by one, more often two by two. Sokka watched with blurred interest until there didn't seem to be much reason for even him to remain. No one was going to get into trouble that early in the morning and there was nothing he would have been able to do about it in his state even if anyone had.

After he'd been drawn into the center of attention he'd accidentally managed to stay there, forgetting in the fog of the whiskey and the beer and the love and the fun that he wasn't supposed to behave like this anymore. He was the law. He was supposed to be order and control.

He'd only moved from the piano to slip into the crowd of whirling dancers, spinning across the packed dirt floor, at first with his sister and then with Song and then with whoever else had flung themselves into his arms. Ty Lee had stayed suspiciously absent after she'd initially received the cold shoulder from Zuko, instead hanging off of Jet's arm for an hour or two more until they'd been the first to discreetly sneak away. Sokka had barely noticed. Jet wasn't going to get into any trouble that _he_ cared about that way. In fact he would be almost _guaranteed_ to stay out of the sheriff's hair. He didn't mind too much that Ty Lee would be out of it as well.

It's not that the young lawman didn't want _any_ company but what he wanted he knew he couldn't get and at this point he couldn't settle for less. He was too far gone, both physically and mentally, and he'd gotten too close. He tried not to dwell on it, but the look that he swore he'd seen in stranger's eyes at that pivotal moment, before they'd been broken apart, refused to be pushed from the depths of his mind. Even as he smiled and he danced and he did his best not to stumble or step on anyone's toes, he could still feel the warmth low in his stomach and see the exotic golden orbs boring deep into him.

The night was a blur of images and noises and pretty faces but he noticed when Zuko took to the dance floor during one of his own brief respites from it. Zuko danced like an aristocrat, all proper and graceful movements, straight back, raised arms. He never once looked down to make sure that his feet were in the right places or forced his partner to catch him when he stumbled forward, because he never once stumbled, never faltered at all. He'd danced with Jin, who smiled in awe and clung to him and had never looked so pretty as she did in his arms under the flickering paper lanterns. _Sokka's_ paper lanterns.

Sokka made a mental note to not forget to remember the way that Zuko danced, just before he started to feel indignant over the ridiculous way that Jin was acting over someone she barely knew. She was one of the more confident and collected people that he'd ever met, even more so than Katara who, admittedly, could be a little preachy. Sokka never once thought about the way that _he'd_ been acting. The Blue Spirit and his nimble fingers hadn't crossed his mind all night and that was good enough for him.

When Katara and Aang had gone, not without a somewhat condescending look from his sister most likely about his obvious inebriation, and therefore Song had gone and Sokka looked around and realized that pretty much _everyone_ was gone, including Zuko, he almost unconsciously made the decision to stumble home and pass out. He didn't care that he was probably the only one who'd be stumbling home alone because he probably wouldn't have been able to perform anyway and somehow, in his drunken state, that was actually a comforting thought.

He was a little miffed that he'd somehow missed Zuko's departure and that he'd been unable to get any closer to the young man as the night had drawn to a close but he wasn't drunk to the point that he wanted to do anything about it. He just wanted to go home. He ran the tip of his finger along the cool metal edge of the flask in his pocket as he walked down the deserted and dusty streets back to his little hole in the wall and tried to hold on to the lighthearted feelings of earlier, when he'd been surrounded by friends and family and things hadn't seemed all that bad.

He stared up at the moon as he scuffed along, admiring how full and strikingly white it seemed to be on this night. He knew that it was just a giant rock in space reflecting the sun but, like this, alone in the warm night air with the celestial orb so seemingly close, he could almost believe the stories that Aang had told him about it. The bubbly little native said that the moon was actually the spirit of a beautiful tribal princess named Yue, who'd given her life to keep the world in balance when it had been threatened by an evil warrior in a rival tribe. Sokka wouldn't admit it but he'd found it to be a particularly moving legend and sometimes it comforted him a little bit to think that maybe there _was_ someone watching over all the lowly mortals on this other giant rock.

He was busy musing when the tip of his boot hit a particularly rude chunk of stone in the middle of the road, a characteristic he informed it of rather rudely himself as he lifted his face out of the dirt. He struggled to push his body into a sitting position and found himself staring through the wooden slats of a stable at his own chocolate brown mule.

"Welllll hey there, perdy lady." He pushed himself up off the ground and slipped in through the gate, collapsing onto a pile of hay in the corner and resting his head against the mule's flank. She turned her large head to regard him and nuzzled at his pocket, looking for a treat. "No, no, no, Sassy. No whiskey for you."

The hay was stiff and made him itchy but he didn't make any move to get up, probably couldn't have even if he'd tried. Instead he pulled the flask from his pocket and started to clumsily untwist the cap. Sassy snorted in frustration when she realized that he had nothing for her and watched him with one big, topaz eye. They weren't the same shade of gold as Zuko's, not even close. In fact, they were plain brown but in the moonlight they looked close enough for him.

"You're the only woman I need, Sassy girl. It's just you and me… we'll be fine." He groaned a little when he realized that his flask was empty and thought about the bottle on his table, but that was all the way next door and he was so, well not really comfortable… vertical. He was already so vertical, that he decided to just fold his arms under his head and maybe close his eyes for just a second.

He was startled back into reality by a bang and the gate in front of him clanging and his hand immediately went to his hip and fingered his empty holster. Shit! Where was his gun? He glanced around the dark stall frantically until his eye caught the moonlight reflecting off the polished wooden handle of his pistol, nearly two feet away. He wouldn't be able to scramble around in the hay quietly enough to get to it without alerting whoever was outside.

There was a low moan from the dark mass in front of him and his liquored up brain stopped short. The shadow was too big to be just one person and it was moving awkwardly, writhing almost, and then he guessed that a cloud must have been blocking the moon because all of a sudden everything was a little bit brighter and he clearly recognized red silk and black lace and pale skin and _pale hands with callouses that shouldn't be there_ gripping slim hips as tightly as if they were his last lifeline.

Sokka thought he might be sick. All of the alcohol that he'd consumed that night and all of the food that he'd practically inhaled was suddenly threatening to come back up in a pretty violent way. He didn't want to watch this… this…

The universe _hated_ him and he was back to being dead sure that there was definitely no pretty moon girl watching over him. Was there a particular reason that Zuko had chosen to do this with the gloomy and frankly _scar_y saloon girl who liked to play with knives, this close to _his_ house? There were plenty of places in the town for them to have gone, _including_ the rooms that were meant for that specific purpose in the saloon! Where _they _both lived! And he'd just _had_ to trip right there and crawl into the stable when he _could_ have been in his bed completely missing this. Stupid universe.

When another low moan invaded his thoughts he tried to tell himself to get up and move and let them know that they had an audience but he was struck dumb by horror and some ounce of masochism he'd never known he had.

"Oh stop it, Zuko. I know you're faking and, honestly, that's _my_ job." Mai's voice cut through the still night air. She actually sounded amused, if that was possible.

"I'm not." His rough voice was muffled by the smooth skin of her bare shoulder as he kissed his way up to her neck.

"You're so transparent. I'm surprised the rest of the people in this place haven't seen through you yet."

Sokka strained to listen to the conversation over Sassy's breathing, despite himself. He desperately wanted to know what Mai meant.

Zuko emitted a frustrated groan and raised his head so that he was staring straight into Mai's appraising black eyes.

"You don't know anything about me." He growled. She sighed and ran her fingers through his hair, the shiny black strands bleeding into the black lace gloves that ran the length of her forearms.

"I know that you're angry about something, probably about whatever brought you here," she paused and eyed him calmly, "and I know when someone doesn't want my services but that one's a bit easier to figure out." She smirked as she reached down to cup his crotch through the canvas covering and Sokka cringed even as Zuko gasped.

"I'm just… a bit intoxicated." He protested, voice quiet.

"And I'm bored," she said, sounding the part, as she pushed him away and the gate clanged back into place. She glanced at the absent bulge in his pants, "call on me when he's ready to come out and play."

She pulled a knife from the garter around her upper thigh and twirled it around her slender fingers as she began to walk away.

"Mai wait." He called out desperately, voice hoarse.

"Honestly Zuko, I won't tell anyone. It's not like you're the first guy to ever have this problem."

He stiffened as she walked back towards him, still brandishing the tiny blade that sparkled menacingly in the moonlight.

"I… I don't…"

"Look… I'm not offended. I know how you are, but you can't blame me for trying to help."

Sokka saw how his shoulders raised and how he, almost imperceptibly, leaned towards her in a subtle threat.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He hissed, fists clenching at his sides.

"Yes you do... but don't worry, I won't tell anyone about that little problem either." She pressed her empty hand against his chest and leaned in, brushing his hair away from his face and tracing the edge of his scar with her blade. He inhaled sharply but didn't push her away, and Sokka sat still in the shadows, shocked at the young man's self control.

"Mai…" He warned, voice faltering.

Sokka could see her face just slightly in the light and he could swear that she was almost smiling, albeit sadly.

"I've seen the way you look at him and I heard what you said to Ty Lee in the saloon last night…"

_Him_? Sokka dug his fingers into a handful of hay and hoped he'd hear a name.

"Mai stop." Zuko gripped her wrists in his hands and pulled the knife away from his face by forcefully moving her arm.

She sighed and pulled away from him, turning her face to the side. "Whatever."

Her nonchalance only seemed to infuriate him.

"You're wrong. _Wrong_. I don't want him, I don't want this place. I don't want this _life!"_

She almost laughed in the face of his anger.

"Keep kidding yourself, Zuko, but you could have gone home a long time ago. You need to face the fact that it's been six months and you're still _here._"

Finally Zuko broke and roughly dropped her arms, stepping away and running his hands through his hair as he sank to the ground. She only shook her head sadly at him and started to walk away again.

"Why do you care?" He called after her.

She didn't turn. "Because I loved you once… a long time ago." Then she was gone.

Sokka held his breath waiting for Zuko to get up and go after her or go home or do _anything_ but the young barkeep simply sat on his haunches in the dirt, arms wrapped his knees and head hung. It seemed like an eternity before Zuko so much as raised his face to the sky. He looked at the tiny house before him and groaned, scrubbing his face with the heels of his hands before finally making a move to get to his feet. Unfortunately for Sokka, Sassy decided at that moment that there was a chance that the other manmight have a treat for her and heavily got to her own feet. Sokka scrambled away to avoid getting trampled and watched in horror as the large animal ambled over to the gate and snorted in the stranger's direction.

Zuko startled and moved into a graceful fighting stance before Sokka could so much as blink. That inhuman quickness, that ghostly grace, if he had ever _seen_ anyone move like that before he could claim that it looked familiar but he'd _felt _it and that was almost better.

Zuko eyed Sassy suspiciously and slowly straightened. "Stupid mule."

And then Sokka's mouth moved without authorization from his brain because Sassy was _his_ stupid mule and no one talked about her like that. And she wasn't stupid.

"Nowwait jus a minute! You doh needda be takin yer problems out on my mule. And she ain't stupid."

And then Zuko was back to crouching, fists up, and the look on his face could have burned Sokka's skin but the sheriff struggled to push himself to his feet anyway and stomped towards the street. It wasn't exactly effective, what with the ground being covered in straw, but it made him feel intimidating and that was what was important. When he reached the gate he grabbed it with one hand and attempted to leap over it, planning to gracefully land in front of the pale stranger, but his spur clipped the wood and he landed on his back in the dirt, staring up into Zuko's hatefully angry face.

"Howdy." He wheezed.

Zuko looked paler than normal, as if he were about to be as sick as Sokka had felt earlier, and his face slackened for a brief moment as he registered just who had been eavesdropping on him. He stumbled backwards rather ungracefully and Sokka almost wanted to laugh but there wasn't enough air in his lungs to do it.

"What were you _doing_ in there?!" He hissed, backing out of Sokka's view.

The young sheriff was forced to twist onto his stomach in order to keep his eye on the other man, not an easy feat in his condition. He gripped onto the wooden bars of the stable for dear life and dragged himself into a standing position. That was a stupid question, almost as stupid as Katara asking him where he'd been all day right in front of the jail which was exactly where he'd been all day.

"Uhh… my houshe, my stable, _my_ mule. Why were _you _here?" He narrowed his eyes and pointed at the paler young man accusingly.

Zuko actually faltered for a second when confronted with that question. When he sobered up Sokka would probably be less than grateful for his current, uninhibited state as he proceeded to talk but there was no one there to warn him of that at the moment.

"Did it seem like a good idea to you to partake in lewd and lasshiviv, laschivicous, lasssi…"

"Lascivious."

"That! That kind of behavior in front of the shheriffsh's mule?" He stopped and thought for a second and then brightened again. "I mean houshe!"

Zuko turned stoic and suddenly Sokka couldn't read his face, except for an odd little upturn of his lip. That was weird.

"I… I had no idea that was there you lived."

"Ha!" Zuko startled backwards at the exuberance of Sokka's exclamation and possibly because as Sokka had thrust his finger forward he'd also stumbled a bit as well. "Liar!"

Zuko tensed and opened his mouth to speak but Sokka kept going.

"Everyone knows that's where I live!" He stumbled forward and fisted his hands in Zuko's shirt, bringing their faces uncomfortably close together. Zuko tried to pull away but Sokka's drunk hold was too strong. "I know _you _know that. What do you want from me?" The young lawman whispered slowly and darkly.

Zuko looked stricken and Sokka could almost feel his heart beating beneath his ribcage, he could also feel how the other man seemed to unconsciously lean into him after he'd stopped struggling.

"I do not know what you're talking about…" There, his lip turned up again.

"Yes. You. Do. I know who you are… I know it wass you that night. Why were you in front of _my_ houshe jus now?"

The young stranger drew in towards the lawman even as he protested the rough treatment. "You don't know anything. You're pathetic. This entire town's pathetic!"

It was the whiskey talking, Sokka knew that even as his mouth was moving, but it didn't stop him.

"Really?" He glared and tried to focus on enunciating his words. "I heard you, I heard everything. So it's Jet that you want? Or maybe Haru? Iss that why you were sso interested in Toph? Or maybe you wanted me to arresht you so that you could spend an entire day locked up with my favorite outlaw…" Zuko began struggling again and Sokka let him go, suddenly very depressed. He could easily believe his own tirade and he was _finally_ starting to sober up. "Except that he's _not _my favorite…"

He looked down, realizing that he was basically speaking gibberish at that point.

"Don't do this. _Don't._"

"I ain't done nothing." Sokka muttered, put off by the faint pleading in Zuko's voice. He didn't know anything about this guy except that his uncle was a nice old man who ran a saloon and never went out of his way to cause trouble. He didn't know how he'd gotten the scar, didn't know who his family was. He'd managed to glean a few precious nuggets of information from the man that night but they weren't anything he could actually go on. All he had was suspicion and his own desire and he knew that he wasn't being fair. "Fuck… I'm sorry."

He didn't register Zuko's movement until the pale hands were tightly gripping his vest and yanking him forward and his breath was suddenly stolen by surprisingly soft lips being pressed roughly and passionately against his own. He opened his mouth, to protest or just to breathe he didn't know, and suddenly there was a tongue invading that space and out of habit his own darted out to entangle with the invading muscle. The kiss itself was only awkward because of how sudden it was, how drunk and unsure and yet _completely_ sure the participants were. And suddenly that problem that Mai had been talking about was no longer a problem at all because Sokka could feel it very prominently against his hip. He unconsciously pressed his leg into the bulge and Zuko moaned into his mouth and then froze.

He pulled his mouth away from Sokka's as suddenly as he'd pushed them together and shoved the young sheriff against the wooden gate where Mai's body had been earlier but this time the pale stranger was backing away, horror and disgust written plainly on his face, his lips raw and red.

"I can't... I can't do this!" He claimed, tentatively and softly, even as his arms seemed to itch to reach forward again.

Sokka stared after him in a daze as Zuko turned and raced away, touching his own swollen lips in disbelief.


	6. Cigar Smoke

**So this story decided that it did, in fact, want to have a plot. A very complicated and multilayered plot. Sorry that this chapter took so long but I rewrote it at least four times as I tried to figure out just how I wanted to proceed with the rest of the fic, which is promising to be a monster.**

He kept one eye on the door and one eye on the patrons as he worked, never glancing down at his hands because after six months every push, every pull, ever pour, every swipe… they'd all become second nature. If the sound of glass shattering sounded across the room, not exactly echoing off the sawdust covered floor, it wouldn't be _his_ fault because his hands were steady and his movements were fluid. He was one level above these drunken fools, one step ahead… except not at all.

If he were really one step ahead, he'd be gone.

He hated how even after the festivities of a few nights before the saloon was still somehow full and of course his over indulgent uncle was nowhere to be seen. The man was a fool to have _chosen_ this life.

Despite the noise and the thick air and the stale smell, which all should have done more than distract him, Zuko still flinched every time the doors swung open and a new patron stepped into the room. He kept expecting to see the sheriff come sauntering through those double doors and his shirt was uncomfortably clinging to his back, not because of the dry summer heat but because of the cold sweat that came over him at the thought of seeing the man again.

Not having to think about what he was doing gave him plenty of opportunities to thoroughly berate himself for his actions both during and after the party. He shouldn't have allowed himself to get so close to the other young man but it turned out that keeping away from him and keeping _others_ away from him at the same time seemed to be a feat meant for gods. Sokka wasn't charismatic like Jet but he was warm and open and _honest_ and people seemed to be drawn to him like starving men to food.

So Zuko could understand why people liked the sheriff and how he'd gotten into an office with such responsibility and authority at such a young age.

It wasn't hard for him to see why he was drawn to the man either, whether he wanted to admit it or not. The young sheriff embraced his simple yet difficult life in wholehearted way that amazed Zuko. Sokka would not fit in with the complicated and rigid social customs of the uppercrust society that Zuko had once called his own and, Zuko had to admit, Sokka would probably reject them as quickly as they could look down their noses at him. The younger man was comfortable in his own skin and the scarred stranger found that refreshing.

Refreshing and altogether irritating because it shouldn't have mattered to him at all. He wanted to go home. He _wanted_ the complications and the stiff aristocrats and the ridiculous social rituals. He wanted the money and the mansion and the social status. He _did. _Didn't he?

He growled to himself as he filled yet another mug with his uncle's home brewed ale and sent it sliding down the bar, hoping the patron who'd signaled for it wasn't too drunk to catch it in time.

It didn't help that his behavior during the impromptu celebration had somehow _ingratiated_ him to the citizens of Avatar, making them think of him, after all the work he'd done to make sure he kept his distance, as one of them. They smiled at him now and went out of their way to say hello and tried to incorporate him into their conversations about their trivial lives and, worse than all of that, he found himself _responding_.

He actually found himself warming to their friendly advances, almost _yearning_ for their acceptance… almost _happy._

Of course he hadn't seen the sheriff in days and in a town this small that could only mean Sokka was avoiding him. And even though his brain aggressively told itself that was okay and his body continued to react with influenza symptoms every time he even thought about facing the man, he knew there was something a lot worse than seeing him again and that was _not_ seeing him because it was _Sokka's_ acceptance he yearned for the most.

When Zuko left his home, no, when Zuko was _kicked out_ of his home, all he wanted was to go back, rejoin his family, and regain his honor. That had been three years and six months ago. He'd been twenty one years old. He was now twenty five and he wasn't sure he could remember what home looked like, what it _felt_ like. But he was sure he belonged there… he was sure.

"Um… hi. Zuko right?" He was startled out of his angry brooding by a youthful and irritatingly upbeat voice. His good eye widened considerably when he saw the native kid standing in front him, a nervous but optimistic grin on his face.

He wasn't actually a kid, really. Young, but not much younger than Zuko was when his life was turned upside down. Zuko had to admit, though, it had been a lot longer than three and a half years since this kid had lost everything. Maybe that's why he seemed so much younger than he actually was. He couldn't have been much more than twelve when the Air Nomads had been decimated. Zuko didn't want to acknowledge it but deep within his chest there was a definite pang of something like sympathy? Regret?

Nine years wasn't exactly a long time but for someone who was barely in his twenties it was nearly half his life. Half his life spent hiding from a power he couldn't hope to fight all because of who he was. And this kid had no idea how close the threat really was..

He barely noticed the kid looking at him quizzically when he didn't respond before the kid was speaking again, seemingly determined to get through what he had to say.

"Um… well, I'm Aang." He extended his hand which Zuko reluctantly took, deeply ingrained manners overriding his brain.

"Did you want something to drink?" He finally grumbled out, slowly overcoming his shock.

"Oh, um, no. I don't drink."

"Right... Then why…"

"Ohh, haha… yea, why am I here? Well, you know Sokka?"

Zuko actually choked on the air he was inhaling. Aang looked concerned and moved to put a hand on his shoulder but Zuko waved him off and tried to hide his reddening face in his sleeve before any of the other patrons took notice.

"…Sokka?"

"Yea. Aren't you friends?" The kid seemed to be losing what little confidence he'd had walking in at an alarmingly rapid rate. Zuko cleared his throat and nodded to the kid, not agreeing to the idea that he and the sheriff were friends… just indicating he should say what he'd come there to say.

"Well, you know you've been here for kind of a while and you don't seem to talk to anyone but your uncle and him and he really seems to like you and..."

"Get to the point."

Aang flushed and nodded at Zuko's impatience.

"Tomorrow's his birthday, which I guess is kind of an important thing, and Katara- Katara's his sister- she's going to make dinner, a _nice_ dinner, and she told me to invite you. Because… well _she_ thinks you're friends. You seemed like friends the other night. You know… Sokka's a really great guy but he doesn't have a lot of friends. I mean, _I'm_ his friend, I think but…"

The words came out of Zuko's mouth before his mind had processed them because if it had he would never have said them. He shocked himself nearly as much as he seemed to surprise the young man in front of him who was still babbling nervously.

"I'll go."

Aang brightened immediately. "It's tomorrow at sundown. At our house," Zuko almost wanted to laugh at the horror that crossed the kid's face at his slip but he was far too busy trying to get over his own, "I mean _her _house!"

Zuko didn't respond, as much out of respect for the kid's embarrassment as a lack of anything to say. The fact that the kid was so close to him and so clueless to who he really was, was practically a slap in the face but he couldn't do anything about it. Not in this room full of people. People who cared about this kid. People who were willing to care about _him_.

"Uh so… Sokka'll be real happy that you're coming. I don't think he realizes it but he talks about you a lot."

"Eh, Zuko! Can I get another round down here?"

Zuko hadn't thought he'd ever feel grateful to Jet for anything until that moment. He could feel his face blushing furiously and he really wanted nothing more than for this night to be over. He wanted this kid, this optimistic, _happy _kid, to quit telling him things that he was secretly desperate to hear. He wanted his heart to stop beating so hard. He wanted to go home. He _wanted_ to kiss Sokka again. But most of all… he wanted Sokka to be his friend, because that was something that he'd never had.

He turned away from the kid to fill the mugs for Jet and his friends, fully hoping that Aang would be gone by the time he turned back but he had no such luck. Aang was still smiling brightly before him, seemingly encouraged by the fact that Zuko hadn't flat out demanded that he get lost.

"It will be fun! I mean, probably nothing like the fancy dinner parties you're used to, but that's okay right?"

Fancy dinner parties he was used to? Zuko paled as Mai's words flashed through his head, merely grunting in response as he sent the last mug sliding down the bar towards a grinning Jet. Maybe he really was that transparent. Aang's face fell slightly in confusion to Zuko's response but he didn't let it overshadow his obvious exuberance.

"Oh well… I guess we'll see you tomorrow then." He smiled and took a glance around the room before raising his hand in a small wave and turning away.

Zuko wasn't entirely sure what he'd gotten himself into and he didn't quite like the warm feeling that was spreading through his chest. He sighed and ran a hand through his long black hair briefly exposing the scar that he usually went out of his way to keep hidden.

* * *

It was a long night. It hadn't helped Zuko's mood when, after the native kid had left, Jet jumped on the chance to distract him, leaving his gang behind and leaning in just an inch too close. Not enough to make Zuko in the right were he to lash out at that shit-eating grin but enough to make him itch with the urge to.

Fending off Jet's unwanted advances, attempts to once again get him to join the Freedom Fighters, _had_ managed to distract him for a while but it had also left him exhausted and by the time Jet had finally slunk out the doors, ambition not diminished in the least, all he wanted to do was bury his head in his hands and possibly sleep right there in the sawdust.

The air stank of sweat and cigar smoke and it made his head ache. It wasn't the smell of the imported cigars that his father smoked but it was close enough that it reminded him of home and made him feel uneasy.

"What am I doing here?" He moaned into his arm as he rested his head on the cool bar surface. Six months. Six months was too long. He tensed when the smell of must and roses invaded the atmosphere but he didn't lift his head. He knew that scent all too well. The whores of this town were quickly making themselves the bane of his existence.

"Perhaps you should let Aunt Wu tell you your future and you might be able to answer that question."

"I do not need your tricks." He growled, still refusing to look up. He bristled when all the woman did was chuckle warmly and move closer to him.

"Oh, Dear, I don't need tricks to see what's in store for you."

Her voice was warm and grandmotherly, her face was too, Zuko knew without looking. Aunt Wu didn't dress in the manner of her girls; tight corsets, lace, and brightly colored silks. He knew without even a glance she would be dressed richly but modestly. She wore silk, because she could afford to, but in muted greens and yellows that made her seem approachable versus the vibrant reds and pinks, colors of passion, that adorned Mai and Ty Lee's milk pale skin. They looked approachable too, well at least Ty Lee did, but no one would be asking to be _mothered_ by them.

He finally raised his head to look at her, his exhaustion driving his impatience.

"Then tell me, woman, what's my future? What can you see without your cards and your leaves and your bones?"

She smiled, a warm easy smile that reached her eyes, and held out her hand.

He grumbled but reluctantly placed his hand, palm down, in hers. When she didn't immediately turn it he raised an eyebrow in surprise but didn't speak. She noticed his expression though and her eyes glittered.

"I said no tricks didn't I?" Her face immediately darkened as she prepared to get to the matter at hand. "You are incredibly conflicted. There is a decision that you are struggling to make, one that will change your life. It is a battle between your head and your heart, what you _think _you need and what you actually do. You have had a difficult life and you have not made it any easier on yourself."

He'd listened fairly enraptured until that last statement. "What do you know of it?" He snapped, snatching his hand away.

"More than you think." She responded softly. "Your inner struggle is not nearly over. There will be difficult decisions ahead that will dictate the direction of your life."

He glared at her through the hazy bar air. "Are you going to tell me what these decisions are? That is what psychics do, is it not?"

"Even if you would allow me my… _tricks_, I would not be able to foresee anything that clearly."

"Then you haven't told me anything I did not already know."

"Perhaps not, but I can tell you this. You are at a clear crossroads and the path that you are leaning towards is draped in murk and shadows. It would be wise to reevaluate your life here, Zuko."

Zuko's golden eyes danced with anger as he stared down the older woman. "And what life is that? Just because you've successfully sucked my fiancé and my uncle into this… this… hellhole, do not think I'll lose sight of where I've come from as well!"

"Sucked? Is that how you see it? I lured your sweet, innocent fiancé away from her loving parents and her privileged life only to make her into a whore," Zuko cringed at the harshness of the word on the madam's soft tongue, "and keep her here against her will?"

She appraised him for a brief moment before continuing. "Don't be a fool, boy. She's _free_ here. Would you honestly force her to return to that prison that she came from? Because that's what it was. She was _miserable._ She wasn't lured away, she _ran._"

"No she didn't. She _wouldn't._ She had everything."

"Silly boy. She had nothing. She didn't even have _you_. She may have had your hand but she never had your heart."

His fists clenched at his sides and his teeth gnashed together but Zuko was nothing if not well bred and he would never strike a lady, or at least he hadn't yet. Aunt Wu's voice never raised an octave and it only added to Zuko's anger because it made everything she said seem so much more possible, even probable, because she still sounded so kind as she was speaking.

"That isn't true."

She sighed and glanced towards the doors, hoping to get a glimpse of the sky through the gap above them.

"I cannot claim to know what's right for you, boy, but I know what's right for my girl. I'm only interested in you for your uncle's sake. He's a good man and he believes that you are too."

"And what do you think?"

She smiled again, turning her gaze back on him. "Do you truly care?"

"No." He hissed.

"No… It is a clear night. Perhaps you should go find the one whose opinion you do care for."

Zuko wanted to run away, get away from this woman who more often than not could give his uncle a run for his money in the art of being cryptic, get away from the cigar-smell that reminded him of his father and made him sick to his stomach instead of happy and made the scar that covered half his face twinge with phantom pain. And he didn't want to go where he knew this conversation was going but most of all, he didn't want to be alone, so he didn't move.

"I do not know what you're talking about." It was barely more than an angry whisper. There wasn't any strength left in him to put any more of himself into it than that. He knew who she was talking about because there was only one person it could possibly be but he didn't have to admit it freely.

"Well that's unfortunate." She turned almost as if to go but tilted her head back with a second thought. "One last thing young man… May I ask why you've been interfering with my business where it concerns our benevolent sheriff? Ty Lee was so fond of him and it seems you've demanded that she keep her distance. I find that odd."

There was a knowing smirk on her face and a delighted glitter in her eye that Zuko missed in his shock and subsequent angry stuttering.

"Hmm well… I'm sure you don't know anything about that either."

And then she was gone and he was alone in the dark, angry and desperate and broken and alone.

* * *

The window was open like it was always open this time of night. The air was thick and warm and breezes were few and far between this time of the summer.

The Blue Spirit perched upon his tree branch and stared through the open window, admiring the way the moonlight glanced upon the naked skin of the sheriff. His heart beat erratically in his chest, a mix of anger, fear, pain, and lust. He wanted to go inside. More than anything he'd ever wanted in his entire life he wanted to go inside that little room and lay down next to that strong body. More than _anything._

Then Sokka moved and the Blue Spirit stiffened in a way he'd become used to since he'd begun taking up this post night after night. His clothes felt too tight and the mask restricted his breathing and made his skin overheat but he didn't dare take it off. Without the mask things became real.

He watched, silently, as the dark young man sat up in his bed and ran a shaky hand through sweat damp hair. His chest heaved and a drop of perspiration trailed from his hairline to his jawline before landing on the thin bed sheet that blocked the Blue Spirit's view of his most impressive appendage.

Such a small action but it still sent a violent shiver up the outlaw's spine that threatened to shake the tree and alert the world of his presence. He'd been strong. For six goddamned months he'd been strong. Then he'd broken _twice_ and now his strength was gone.

But the Blue Spirit didn't need strength, not emotional strength at least, he only needed to keep the mask on and then _he_ could do anything … _anything._

So the outlaw that consumed at least a third of all of Sokka's waking thoughts slipped into his room in the dark for the second time and even though the sheriff reached for his pistol and even though he snarled like a wild dog as he lunged toward the intruder, both men knew there would be no shots fired that night.


	7. Stone Walls

**Ohhh what, remember this story?? I took way too long to update this so I sped things along for you guys and got down to the nitty gritty. Enjoy the build up and the pronz. I've got like five other projects on my plate so I can't guarantee how regular updates on this story will be but I'm not abandoning it, promise. **

**Thank you to Kari Twilight Mist for suggesting the name for Zuko's horse!**

He ran his fingers lightly over the crystal bottle of brandy sitting gingerly in his aristocratic hands, clutched against his chest like a life preserver. It was a good bottle, imported, expensive, too much for the situation but his uncle had insisted, practically shoving it into his arms. He hadn't even had a chance to ask how the old man had managed to get something like this all the way out in the middle of nowhere let alone why he was so eager to see it go to waste at a pitiful dinner for a too young sheriff.

A dinner he was currently on his way to attend.

He'd given up trying to understand his uncle's actions long before he'd come to Avatar, before he'd run out of other places to go. Iroh was eccentric at his best, giving up his illustrious military career and his substantial inheritance to run a shoddy saloon in a town that most of the country couldn't be bothered to know even existed. And the worst part was that the old man seemed so happy.

He could ignore the disapproving looks that Iroh sent his way whenever he complained and the sad, wistful looks he received when he refused to speak all together, but it was impossible to pretend that the only blood relative he had left who would take him was anywhere near as miserable as he was.

It annoyed him to no end even as he could feel his uncle's enthusiasm slowly eating away at his own carefully built walls, but he wasn't about to admit it. Not even as he begrudgingly made his way toward the mayor's modest house on the edge of town, dressed in his best, ebony stallion plodding dutifully behind him.

Iroh had tried so hard to get Zuko to dress up for the occasion.

_You're a guest nephew! You should look nice! You've never had any qualms about such events before!_

Of course he hadn't. Because _before_ he'd been obligated to attend such tedious things as fancy dinners and balls and the like and it hadn't mattered in the least whether or not he was enjoying himself because it was _expected_ of him. And he'd been so good at playing his role as the obedient son, the perfect heir, the dashing aristocrat. He'd only faltered once and that one mistake had cost him everything.

Nevertheless, it hadn't taken much prodding on his uncle's part to get him to iron his best shirt and clean the mud off of his boots and out of the spokes of his spurs, such presentations were _bred_ into him after all. But he had drawn the line when Iroh had attempted to smooth his hair away from his face and the old man's expression had softened in understanding and he had let the issue be. Zuko had set his jaw and forcibly kept himself from saying something unkind that he didn't actually mean because, deep down, he knew that the old man loved him and was probably the only person left who still did.

"This is just reconnaissance, Agni. This has nothing to do with that fool sheriff. I'm only going to get closer to the Air Nomad, to see where he lives. That's all." He addressed his horse under his breath and received a nudge against his shoulder for his trouble. Agni rubbed his head against Zuko's shirt and looked at him sideways with one great big, chocolate eye that seemed to reinforce Zuko's own knowledge that every word out of his mouth was a lie.

"Don't look at me like that!" He hissed, angry that his own _horse _seemed to be judging him the same way everyone else was. Agni snorted and Zuko's paranoia made him almost swear that the animal was _laughing _at him. He snarled and kicked at a small bud of cacti growing tenaciously in the barren earth. "What do you know about it anyway? You're a horse. A big, stupid beast of burden. Ow!"

He received a rather sharp nip on his shoulder for his comment and nearly dropped the precious bottle in his grip. "Damnit Agni!" He spun on his heel and glared at the horse, narrowing his good eye until it was open no wider than the permanent slit of his scarred one.

"Hey Zuko! Who are you talking to?"

Zuko cringed at the unnaturally upbeat voice and the hot, wet breath on his neck. He was only thankful that the Air Nomad didn't seem to have heard what he'd been saying.

"Why are you standing so close to me?" He spoke slowly and evenly and it took every fiber of his being not to reach for the knife in his pocket.

"Oh! That's not me. That's Appa!" Zuko turned, tentatively, and found himself staring into the dripping snout of a giant, albino buffalo that promptly opened its jaws and _licked_ him with its massive tongue. "Haha hey! He likes you!"

"Wonderful." Zuko deadpanned, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and vigorously wiping his face with it. He would have been more satisfied with a fistfight but he had the presence of mind to know that attacking the Nomad in front of his own home would no doubt result in his arrest and he did not feel like spending the night in a dank and rusty cell. Thought it did sound somewhat more pleasant than spending the night attempting to make civil niceties with a bunch of backwards frontiersmen. Actually a night in jail sounded _much _better than facing this excuse for a celebration that he wished he could conveniently forget he'd agreed to attend. He was in the midst of weighing the pros and cons when he realized that the Nomad was currently attempting to lead Agni into an empty stable stall around the side of the house.

He snarled and dashed forward, expecting to find the kid on his back in the dirt, two perfect hoof prints embedded into his suede clad chest. He stopped short after skidding around the corner and finding the normally tempestuous equine actually following the shorn headed native willingly and _nuzzling_ his clothes. Zuko grit his teeth and tightened his grip on the bottle. The nomad glanced at him and smiled widely.

"He's a great horse. Just followed me right over here!"

"He doesn't _ever_ behave like this. He never responds to anyone but me." He spat out through a clenched jaw, disbelief and frustration etched all over the clear side of his face.

Aang scratched the side of his head and led out a jovial laugh before running his hand along Agni's snout in what would have been a calming gesture had it been any other animal and yet Agni did seem calm, much calmer than his master.

"I'm really good with animals. Always have been. Like with Appa. I found him when he was just a calf, separated from his herd, and he's stayed by my side ever since! The elders said it was a sign that I was blessed by the spirits." His expression dampened and he cast his eyes down, remembering. "I guess they were right… even though it doesn't feel like it sometimes."

The situation became uncomfortable, made no less so by the fact that Zuko was still simmering quite hotly, but then he was nearly bowled over by a muddy brown and white ball of fur heading straight for Aang and the Nomad brightened considerably within an instant.

"Momo! Hahaha, hey buddy! Zuko this is Momo." Aang beamed and the ball of fur turned its attention to the uninterested barkeep. Zuko raised his brow and studied it. It seemed to be a dog. He was forced to leap backward as the dog attempted to land its front paws on his thighs, choosing to sniff him profusely when it failed.

Zuko turned his lip up with distaste for the dog's clear lack of training. "Can it actually herd?"

"Oh yea! Momo's real smart, he's just a little exuberant and I guess a bit spoiled. Actually, I don't know if he's ever _tried_ to herd anything before, but I'm sure it's instinctive."

Zuko snorted and opened his mouth to say something disparaging about the dog's supposed intelligence but he was silenced by the sight of the animal on its hind legs, front paws busy unlatching the gate to the buffalo's enclosure, which it promptly entered, curling up comfortably next to the much larger animal. Only Aang's laughter caught his attention and reminded him to close his gaping mouth.

"We should go inside before Katara gets mad."

Zuko could only nod and follow behind the younger man, aware that he seemed to be in for the quite the night. The interior of the house was smaller than the exterior hinted at but it was still fairly spacious at two stories. A long hall led straight through from the entryway to the back patio, opening up to the sitting room, dining room, and a small guest room. Zuko followed behind Aang, eyes narrowed, and attempted to take everything in and to ignore his heart beating a rapid tattoo against his chest.

"Katara, let me help you!"

"No Sokka! This is _your_ birthday. _You're_ the guest of honor, now act like it!"

"Katara, you know I don't like you fussing about me like this. It's just a damn birthday! Let me help!"

"Don't you swear in my house, Sokka."

"It's _Dad's _house and he ain't here so I'll swear all I want to! Damn, Damn, Da-oomph!"

They exited onto a large patio and found a small number of people already gathered beneath what shade was offered. The two combatants in the previous argument were standing off to the side, just outside of the kitchen, and even Zuko had to try hard to stifle a laugh at their demeanor.

Katara stood with hands on her hips, brandishing a large wooden spoon and glaring at her brother who was backing away with one palm up in surrender and the other massaging a growing goose egg on his forehead. Everyone seemed to be in uplifted moods despite the entertainment, or perhaps because of it, and Zuko took a few moments, grateful that he had not yet been seen, to scope out his surroundings.

There was really only a small group in attendance and Zuko recognized most everybody from encounters in town, namely at the Jasmine Dragon, or from the Summer Solstice festivities. He clutched at the brandy bottle tighter and wished for the ninety ninth time that he hadn't agreed to come to this and then again for the hundredth time when he finally felt the sheriff's eyes on him.

Sokka slowly lowered his hand from his head and gaped in shock at the open doors of his childhood home.

"Close your mouth! You'll let the flies in." He heard Katara hiss at him but he was hard pressed to do anything that would have been considered normal functioning as his mind attempted to stumble over and grasp the fact that the exact person he had spent the last week _avoiding_ was now standing on his family's property, with what seemed to be a gift, and looking _nervous_ to boot.

"What is _he_ doing here?" He hissed right back once he'd finally gathered his faculties. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Zuko seemed to shift uncomfortably and grumble to himself. He looked nice, more put together than Sokka had ever seen him which was saying a lot because Zuko always seemed to look put together, and Sokka could easily imagine him in this exact same setting but in a suit and in a mansion and with a beautiful girl on his arm. He angrily bit his lip to expel such ridiculous images from his head and turned back to his sister who was giving him her 'You're being ungrateful' glare. He'd ended up with a wooden spoon across his face for making her look at him like that not more than a few minutes prior so he automatically took a step back.

"I had Aang invite him. You two seemed to be getting along so well at the party and you need friends."

"I _have_ friends! What do you call all these people?"

"I mean real, close friends. Someone you can talk to. You spend so much time working and in that jail, your closest friend might as well be Jet."

"Jet ain't my friend."

"But Zuko could be."

"No he can't. And I have to work, Katara. With Dad and Bato in Ba Sing Se, I'm the only one left 'round here that can take care of things."

"I'm just worried about you. Anyway, why can't you be friends with Zuko? He seems nice enough."

"Yea well, there's something off about him." Sokka chose to keep the events that occurred after the party from his baby sister. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Really? And what makes you think that?" Katara crossed her arms over her bosom and furrowed her brow at him.

"Intuition." He spat back at her, impatient with the conversation.

"Oh hmph. Intuition? That's it?"

"Don't you write it off! I was right about Jet when he first came to town and you thought he was your knight in shining armor, wasn't I?"

Katara's eyes widened and a furious blush crept across her cheeks. Sokka didn't see the spoon coming until it connected with his shoulder

"Ow!"

"That is in the past. I was just a girl back then. I didn't know any better." She whispered furiously at him before storming back into the kitchen.

"You're still just a girl!" He bellowed back, louder than he'd meant to. He found himself laughing nervously as the entire group looked at him with amusement in their eyes.

"And what exactly do you mean by that, Snoozles?"

Sokka whipped around to see the Bei Fong's blind daughter making her way, eerily easily, toward him. She was smiling but Sokka could hear, in her tone, that there was no chance he had the right answer. He scrambled around in his brain for the words that would make him look the least like an idiot but luckily for him, with a wink and a smile, Teo chose that exact moment to wheel up behind Toph and quite literally sweep her off her feet. She let out a resounding laugh and didn't bother trying to act dignified as she punched him in the arm. Her parents would have been horrified at her behavior but, honestly, they didn't know her very well.

Sokka took that opportunity to escape one uncomfortable situation and dive right into another.

"Aang." He said, nodding to the native companionably, as he approached the awkward pair. Zuko looked as if he couldn't decide between being petrified or furious at the situation. Aang had been chatting away amiably to the stiff bar hand who hadn't so much as even nodded to feign attention since Sokka had noticed his presence.

"Hey Sokka! I found Zuko outside when I was putting Appa away. Have you seen his horse? He's a beauty and he's so nice!"

"He is _not_ nice!" Zuko hissed, finally breaking his golden gaze from Sokka's face. The sheriff smirked and pretended to be interested in the conversation. "He was just lethargic today. That's all."

Aang smiled through Zuko's outburst, unfazed by the young man's searing temper.

"Hey Aang. I think Katara might need your help in the kitchen. Don't know if she's quite got the hang of making a meal out of that rabbit food you insist on eating." He kept his eyes steadfastly fixed on Zuko as he spoke, sure the Nomad would not catch the undertone in his words. Aang blushed as Zuko blanched and Sokka couldn't help but smile at the small lovesick grin on the boy's face.

"Oh really? Well okay then. I'll see you later Zuko!" And with that Aang bounded away. Sokka only hoped that Katara would not chew his hide later for sending the boy to get in her way.

With Aang gone, he took a step closer to Zuko, invading the other man's space, a darkly amused expression on his face.

"Didn't expect to see you here."

Zuko looked down and away. "Uncle made me come. He thinks I need _friends._"

"Funny. That's exactly what Katara said about me."

Zuko grumbled something under his breath and suddenly seemed to remember the brandy in his hands. He shoved it towards Sokka with a noncommittal grunt. "This is from Uncle."

Sokka took and inspected the contents through the tempered glass of the bottle.

"It's…"

"Brandy."

"It's beautiful."

"It's expensive. I don't know where he got it but you shouldn't waste it."

"Shouldn't waste it as in I should drink it?"

"No."

"So… I shouldn't drink it?"

"No. You should drink it but you shouldn't get drunk off of it like you tend to do."

Sokka tore his enamored gaze away from the amber liquid in his hands and quirked an eyebrow at the bartender, face full of suspicion. "How do you know that I tend to do that?"

Zuko's head snapped up. "You fool. It's obvious."

Sokka looked taken aback but he didn't turn away. His eyes narrowed as he inspected Zuko's face and widened again, clearing of any immediate turmoil. "Is it? I guess _you_ would know wouldn't you?"

Zuko didn't respond. This entire situation was becoming increasingly impossible to tolerate. The sheriff's imposing presence and the lack of space between them. He could _feel_ the electricity from the other man's body and it was too much for him to handle.

"Huh. Well if it's fine by you I'm going to drink it anyway. I s'pose proper etiquette mandates I share this with you."

"It does." Zuko said stonily, responding automatically before thinking the situation through.

"Fine then. Since we're _friends." _Sokka turned away from the paler young man and headed into the house, cradling the brandy in his arms like a newborn babe.

They barricaded themselves in the sitting room, each taking a seat on a plush chair as far apart from each other as they could get while still within arm's reach of the bottle. Sokka retrieved two snifters from a cabinet and set them on a small, nudging them towards Zuko.

"I assume you're the expert at this. I wouldn't want to insult you with my overenthusiastic pouring. I probably would miss the aroma or something like that. Whatever it is that matters with brandy."

Zuko glared at him but took the glasses anyway. "You're right. You would screw something as simple as this up."

He passed a glass to Sokka and held his own in front of his mouth to hide the stubborn smile that kept insisting on twisting his lips. The sheriff eyed him and took a sip out of his glass.

"Oh! This is glorious. Your uncle is my new favorite person in the entire world."

"Idiot."

"That may be but I can die a happy idiot now." Sokka closed his eyes and leaned back against his chair, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankle.

"A happy idiot who sleeps with his mule."

The sheriff cracked one eye and looked Zuko up and down. Zuko realized his mistake instantly but there was no taking his words back. Sokka could either let it die or remind him of the very large mistake that he'd made that had kept them from facing each other for the past few days.

Sokka merely smiled and closed his eye again. "I was comfortable until you started making all that noise."

Zuko's chest constricted. He didn't want to go any further with this. Kissing the sheriff had been a huge lapse in judgement. He had no business creating ties to this place, especially of _that_ kind. He already had a life and he'd had a plan and he'd be going back to it.

He took a swig of his brandy, drinking it in exactly the way he'd demanded the sheriff not do, and cleared his throat against the pleasant burn at the back of it. If his face was a little ruddier than normal he could blame it on the liquor.

"I suppose we both may have been acting out of character that night." He finally said, slow and calculated, face down but eyes cut upwards to watch Sokka's reaction.

The lawman's expression darkened briefly and Zuko felt a flutter in his chest, but as quickly as he was able to register the look of displeasure it was gone and the sheriff was back to grinning against his glass. To anyone else not looking closely enough it would have looked normal but to Zuko, who'd spent more time than he liked to admit watching the young man, it was strained and he could see the dark glint of his previous expression still flashing in his sky blue eyes.

The two were saved from any further discomfort by the sound of heavy footsteps in the hall. Sokka laughed and pushed his lanky frame out of his chair, grabbing the brandy bottle off the table before anyone else could see that he had it. He gestured in Zuko's direction with it before turning to the thick oak cabinet behind him and hiding the bottle away.

"This'll be our secret. Everyone else won't know what they're missin." He offered Zuko a conspiratorial smirk before retaking his seat. Zuko found himself smirking back, comfortable, and he barely noticed how he his shoulders had started to relax.

He looked up sharply when he sensed another presence in the doorway, almost a little disappointed, despite the awkward turn that the situation had almost taken. Haru stood there with his arms crossed, an amused smile on his face.

"Katara was wondering where you two got to. You're just begging to get a beating today, aren't you Sokka?"

Sokka barked out a laugh and brushed the comment off, more aware of how to handle his sister's wrath than anyone else.

"Why do you think we've been hiding out in here? I'm trying _not_ to get beat. But I figure I can brave my sister if supper's ready."

"Well then you're in luck. That's what she sent me in here to tell you."

Sokka made a scene of holding his stomach as if he'd been starving for days and launched out of his chair, careful not to spill even a drop of his drink.

The dinner was lively, louder and more raucous than any Zuko had ever been to. The guests shouted at each other from across the table, speaking over the voices of others, laughing and clapping and full of joy. There was nothing formal about it, nothing strict or unyielding. There were no old men smoking imported cigars and discussing the merits of westward expansion, or finger bowls filled with lemon scented water; no servants in starched uniforms ducking in between the guests to switch out their courses. And for once, he wasn't forced to bite his tongue and listen to the conversations around him while keeping his own opinion locked tight away behind closed lips.

It felt wrong but he liked it. He could express his opinions and people listened. They asked him questions and joked with him and bit by bit he felt the tension he'd been carrying around for so many months, ease. He was ushered into the seat next to Sokka's when he attempted to sit closer to the foot of the table and when he offered to help Katara serve the food, she laughed and slapped at his gesture, insisting that he was a guest. But he couldn't be comfortable sitting still and eventually she'd given in, acknowledging that she could use the help.

He noticed Aang give him an uneasy look after Katara giggled a little too loudly a few too many times but by the time he'd taken his seat next to the sheriff the moment had passed and the little nomad was back to smiling jovially.

When they'd cleared the dishes and opened a fifth bottle of wine and most of the guests had gone, Zuko found his tongue loosened further than it had been since he'd gotten his scar. He found himself smiling and laughing along with the siblings and the native, and when he felt a warm hand on his knee beneath the table, he didn't startle and he didn't shake it off. His belly was warm and the flutter just above his groin wasn't so unpleasant anymore. He leaned into the warm body next to him and when the party looked like it was officially over, he found himself reluctant to leave.

"I want to show you something." Sokka leaned into him and whispered breathily into his ear when Katara and Aang weren't looking, grip on his knee increasing in pressure ever so slightly.

Zuko's eyes were unfocused and his chest was tight but he nodded, dark hair shifting to obscure his face and the rosy blush covering his cheeks. He wasn't drunk, at least not on alcohol, and he could tell that Sokka wasn't either but neither made a move to dislodge themselves from the intimate seating arrangement they'd shifted into, as if they had an excuse to behave so inappropriately.

When Sokka finally got up, Zuko immediately felt chilled and almost curled in on himself to try and recover some of the heat that he'd lost with the other's presence. He watched, almost sadly, as Sokka wrapped his arms around his sister's waist and lovingly kissed her forehead. She blushed when he told her that she was the best sister ever and her eyes watered when he lowered his voice and whispered about how proud their mother and grandmother would be if they could see her now.

When Sokka returned to his side he was already standing, prepared to go wherever the sheriff wanted to take him. Some of the walls that he'd built stone by stone around his heart were still standing, he could feel them, but he could also feel them crumbling slowly and something warm replacing them.

They lead their mounts out of the stables; Sokka spared a piece of beef that he had pocketed for Momo and a piece of cake for Appa; before they kicked up into their saddles and galloped off into the night. Nothing thrilled Zuko so much as feeling the breeze whipping against his skin as Agni's hooves dug into the hard packed earth and propelled them forward. He could see the same exhilarated look on Sokka's face and he grinned wildly against the wind.

He reigned Agni in when he saw Sokka and Sassy slow to a trot at the edge of the plateau they were on. The stars twinkled above them and lit their way, creating an atmosphere of peace and tranquility that Zuko had been hard pressed to appreciate up until this point. He slid gracefully to the ground and watched with mild surprise as Sokka did too. He could see the warm glow of fires peaking over the rocky edge and when he stepped forward the outlines of huts and horses and people became clear.

"Who are they?" He murmured when he felt Sokka come up beside him, breath on his neck. He felt a certain sense of déjà vu at the feeling but found he didn't care so much this time around. Sokka's presence felt comfortable, right.

"The Kyoshi."

Zuko's eyes widened and his heart thumped. "They're violent. How can you feel comfortable living so close to them?"

He'd heard stories of all the different tribes that littered the land, from the mouths of his father's business partners, from the cowboys he'd encountered in his travels. Anyone with a tongue to wag was willing to spin a tale. Some, he knew, were blatantly false. The ones that claimed the Air Nomads had brought about their own violent end, that they'd raped non-native women, scalped the men, and kidnapped the children to raise in their wild ways. Zuko knew those weren't true but he'd seen evidence of what the Kyoshi could do. They were warriors.

He felt Sokka's arm slip around his waist and a hand rest on his hip. His stomach twisted but he didn't pull away. The scene before him played out like a series of images in one of the books in his father's library. He could see a group of mothers feeding their children by the largest of the fires, old men sharing a pipe and stories by one of the huts. A few older children raced around the camp in a game of tag that looked no different than how he'd played as a child.

A group of young women stood off to the side of the camp and swayed in synchronized movements, honing their skills as warriors and Zuko knew he should find it unsettling but he was mesmorized.

"They're no more violent than we are." Sokka whispered in his ear; it tickled and sent a shiver across Zuko's skin. The obvious leader of the group looked up at their position, her auburn hair sparkling in the moonlight. Zuko startled, afraid that she could see him, but when Sokka stood still and rested his chin on Zuko's shoulder, he calmed and stayed where he was.

"That's Suki."

"You know her?"

"I thought I was in love with her once."

Zuko set his jaw and tensed, attempting to pull out of Sokka's grasp without being too obvious. Sokka only let out a breathy chuckle against his skin and pulled him in tighter, his back flush against the sheriff's front.

"They're people, same as you and me. They just have different customs and different beliefs but they have the same values. We respect them and work with them and they give us the same. They're just trying to defend their way of life."

"You don't agree with the war." Zuko mused, no judgment lacing his voice.

Sokka sighed and squeezed Zuko's hip. "It's hard to, living here… knowing them. Can you agree with it? You've been on your own long enough to understand that the views on the east coast are skewed."

Zuko shook his head and turned in Sokka's embrace so that he was facing the somewhat slighter man. His fingers found their way to the sheriff's trim waist and slipped beneath the hem of his shirt to trail along smooth, warm skin. He met Sokka's gaze and held it.

"I don't know anymore." He answered truthfully and Sokka smiled before pulling him close and kissing him.

He could taste the wine and brandy and steak on Sokka's lips, a symphony of flavors that masked his natural taste or mixed with it to create something that Zuko found to be more delicious than anything he'd consumed during the dinner.

After what felt like forever and no time at all, Sokka pulled away. His eyes sparkled like the stars, even clouded with lust, and Zuko's heart attempted to beat right out of his chest as his dick sprang to attention beneath heavy denim. He watched, confused and tingling with arousal, as the sheriff struggled to pull a thick blanket from behind his saddle without undoing the leather thongs holding it in place. Sokka grumbled under his breath in embarrassment but Zuko only laughed, a light and foreign thing that felt good in his chest. When Sokka finally turned around, blanket in hand, Zuko had already dropped his vest to the ground and was working on the buttons of his shirt.

Sokka's mouth went dry at the side. He was willing to ignore how familiar the movements of those hands were to him, willing to ignore how easily he could place the lithe, pale body before him in dark clothes behind a haunting mask. He ignored these thoughts in favor of the snake of arousal coiling low in his belly and sinking its fangs into his heart.

He spread the blanket across the ground and tried not to cough as the dust rose up in protest. It was rumpled and crooked but he didn't have a chance to fix it. Zuko was already on him, pressing his back into the wool, hands working at the buttons of his shirt and the buttons of his fly, pressing the hard seems against his already engorged cock. He gasped and arched up against the body on top of him, finding Zuko's mouth with his own and invading with his tongue. His fingers found Zuko's hair and the strong muscles of his back, the waistband of his pants and the lumpy material of his button fly.

They were a tangle of limbs and sweat slicked skin, connected by their mouths and their groins. Nither stopped to think about consequences or misgivings. It was all about the pent up passion they'd been dancing around for months.

Sokka toed off his boots as Zuko struggled to yank his pant legs down his thighs. The air felt cool where sweat had pooled at the junctions of his hips and the backs of his knees. His shirt hung awkwardly off his shoulders, his bandana still tied in a tight knot around his neck. His hat lay in the dirt some ways off, forgotten. He pushed at Zuko's shoulders, at his pants, at his hips. Zuko's hand wrapped around his cock and he moaned, a choked off sound that reverberated through his chest.

Zuko bit at the curve of his neck and licked the sweat from his skin. It was the same, the grip around his cock, too familiar but the hot mouth on his flesh was different and desperate and reflected the exact war of feelings raging inside his own mind. He wanted this, more than he'd even known. It wasn't about proving that Zuko was an outlaw or an aristocrat or anything more than he'd ever pretended to be. He just wanted this feeling, the slide of Zuko's chest against his, the warmth of someone else's hand around his erection.

"There's stuff… oil… the saddle." He panted, fingers digging into Zuko's scalp. The bar hand froze for a second and then lifted his head from where it was resting against Sokka's shoulder. He looked the sheriff in the eye and waited a beat for reassurance, then pushed to his feet and sauntered over to where their horses were standing calmly, chewing at the weeds that poked out of the cracks in the clay. He dug around for the oil, chewed his lip when his fingers finally closed around it, then turned back.

"Are you sure you want this?"

Sokka laughed and smiled widely, sure. He rose up on one elbow and watched as Zuko made his way back, the bulge in his pants angry and apparent. He fidgeted for a second before holding out the little jar of leather oil and waiting. The sheriff's eyes widened but he took it, fingers brushing against Zuko's and hesitating.

"So you really are like that, huh?"

Zuko scowled and sunk to his knees. "Does that matter to you?"

He was tensed, prepared to grab his things and run in a second. Sokka reached out and brushed his knuckles against Zuko's cheek, extending his fingers to slide into his ebony hair and pull him down to lay with his back against the blanket. The wool scratched Zuko's skin and Sokka's fingernails scratched his hips and thighs as he pulled the pale man's pants down his legs.

"Turn over."

Zuko inhaled sharply and complied, resting his weight on his forearms and his knees, his head hanging and eyes closed. Sokka dipped his fingers into the oil and laid his clean palm against the small of Zuko's back. Zuko's breath hitched as he pushed the first finger in and crooked it, pushing at his inner walls. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the swell of the pale man's hip as he added the second finger, moving them slightly in and out. Zuko grunted and pushed back against him and he slipped a third finger in, fighting the tightness that tried to keep his fingers in or push them out.

He spread the digits and curled them and Zuko moved beneath him.

"More." He panted. "_More._"

Sokka pulled his fingers free and grabbed himself, spreading the oil across his skin, and positioned himself against Zuko, gliding in slowly and panting at the tightness, the overwhelming _heat. _Zuko pushed back, eager, and buried his face in the crook of his elbow to muffle his moans. Sokka reached around and squeezed Zuko's cock, pulling on the organ with a downward motion to distract the man from the slow snap of his hips.

He choked as Zuko unconsciously clenched around him and couldn't stop himself from thrusting forward, deeper into the impossible heat.

"Fuck." He groaned out, biting the skin of the bar hand's back. He pulled out slowly and thrust back in _hard_, hilting himself and causing the man beneath him to shudder and cry out. Zuko's cock jumped in Sokka's hand and he squeezed harder and twisted his wrist in reflex. There was no rhythm, they weren't synchronized, but they felt right, felt _good. _

Sokka moved against Zuko sort of awkwardly, trying desperately to keep from coming too soon. Zuko pushed back against him, tried to meet him thrust for thrust, and curled his fingers in the blanket, clutching the wool in his hands. Zuko spread his legs a little wider, angled his hips a little higher, and the next time he thrust in Zuko almost sobbed and shook. Sokka altered his thrusts to hit that same spot again, harder and faster, and tightened his grip around Zuko's cock, sliding his thumb over the head at the same time their hips slapped together with enough force to echo out across the canyon.

Zuko howled and came hard, collapsing onto the ground and pulling Sokka with him. He clenched around Sokka's cock and pulled the sheriff's orgasm out of him. The younger man buried his mouth in Zuko's hair and yelled, his grip on Zuko's waist hard enough to bruise. He pulled out after a tense few seconds spent attempting to catch his breath and rolled over onto his back so that he could look up at the stars. Zuko stayed on his stomach, his arms folded beneath his head and his face angled so that he could see Sokka's profile.

"It's nice like this." Sokka said softly. He turned his head to the side and grinned at Zuko, angling closer so that he could press an awkward kiss against the other man's lips. Then he turned his attention back to the sky.

"It is." Zuko whispered, eyes heavy lidded and heart full.

**Back in the day a man was only considered a homosexual if he was penetrated, hence why Sokka says "_you really are like that." _meaning homosexual.**


End file.
